


Ghost of an Outlaw

by Nerdy_Badger_Mole



Category: Polar (2019)
Genre: Age Difference, Angst with a Happy Ending, BDSM, Blood and Injury, Blood and Violence, Bondage, Canon-Typical Violence, Daddy Kink, Doctor/Patient, Dom/sub, Domestic Discipline, Domestic Fluff, Eventual Romance, Eventual Smut, F/M, Fluff and Smut, Friends to Lovers, Getting Together, Getting to Know Each Other, Gun Violence, Guns, Gunshot Wounds, Hurt/Comfort, Idiots in Love, Light Angst, Light Bondage, Light Dom/sub, Love Confessions, Masturbation, Medical Inaccuracies, Medical Jargon, Medical Professionals, Neighbors, Non-Graphic Violence, Non-Sexual Submission, Older Man/Younger Woman, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Platonic BDSM, Porn with Feelings, Sexual Tension, Slow Burn, Spanking, Tags Are Hard, Tags May Change, i think
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-03-11
Updated: 2021-03-16
Packaged: 2021-03-18 05:55:54
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 11
Words: 20,412
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29978403
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Nerdy_Badger_Mole/pseuds/Nerdy_Badger_Mole
Summary: Okay y'all know I suck at summaries but I saw a Tumblr post explaining how to do it so here we go.Ahem-hem.Duncan Vizla feels aimless and numb and wants nothing more than to feel something real for once. When he finds himself with a new neighbour after Camille moves away,  he believes that she's the one to thaw his heart in snowy Triple Oak, Montana. But will he let her in? Will the world of blood and violence leave him long enough to truly let her in?Find out here on Dragonball Z.
Relationships: Duncan Vizla | Black Kaiser/Original Female Character(s), Duncan Vizla | Black Kaiser/Reader
Comments: 10
Kudos: 12





	1. Chapter 1

If there was one place on Earth that could be called bum-fuck nowhere, it was Triple Oak. 

And that's exactly how Duncan liked it. The place almost didn't exist on any maps and it seemed suspended in time and space in a barrier of wind and snow. 

Duncan felt colder than usual in his big wood cabin with his big bad dreams. They had gotten worse since Camille left.

He had, as promised, helped Camille to find the man who had wanted her father dead. It had been surprisingly easy to find the man and just like others of his kind, Duncan found him with his pants down, balls-deep in some girl whose name the guy probably didn't even remember.

The man, like all the others, tried to beg and bargain and appeal to Duncan's morals or some such nonsense but Duncan had simply put the gun in Camille's hand and left the choice to her. And with tears streaming down her face she shot him, right between the eyes. 

"This is for my family," she'd sobbed. 

And just like that, revenge was served. 

Duncan had thought it would be pretty obvious that Camille wouldn't feel better after killing the man but she had confessed tiredly to him that the horror was still etched onto her eyelids and that she still woke up screaming.

Duncan felt guilty. 

He had been the blunt instrument used in the slaughter of Camille's family and he thought helping her kill the man who called the hit would absolve him somehow. 

It didn't. 

Duncan knew that part of the reason whoy Camille couldn't sleep at night was Duncan's proximity. How does the lamb sleep when the wolf slumbers next door?

So with a sad nod and terse goodbye, Camille packed up and left and he was alone once more.

And it was so horribly cold.

Duncan was a man more given to his animal nature than most, giving his Id free reign whenever he needed. Or wanted. As such, having officially retired and having fuck all to do and no one to kill, maim, or torture, he was starting to get agitated. He puttered about the cabin but it felt more like an animal pacing its cage.

It wasn't that he enjoyed killing, he was quite perfunctory about it actually. Killing people brought home the bacon and he just happened to be very good at it. However, he missed the excitement of it all. He missed the thrill of the chase and getting to expend the rest of his adrenaline with the prostitute of his choice to whom he was always far too attached. 

He was bored and he was lonely.

So he took up hunting in the woods around his cabin. And of course, he was good at it. Duncan could be quiet, so very quiet and in his white hunting gear, he was invisible. So he would crouch low in the snow, the wind carrying away his scent, the scent of a predator, and once he had a deer in his crosshairs he would deliver the kill shot. He would see the animal that he wanted and he would make it his.

So when he saw her, she was a doe in his crosshairs, wide-eyed with a pie in hand at his doorstep.

He wanted her and he would have her. 


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> First contact ;)  
> Star Trek references abound!

"I just don't  _ understand _ ," Uhura breathed. "You want a divorce? Why?" 

"Because you're never here," James groaned, pinching the bridge of his nose.

"I can't help it if I'm on call," Uhura said holding her hands out. "I'm a doctor, I can't just decide not to answer my pager, Jim." 

"That's not the problem," he said through gritted teeth, packing his suitcase while Uhura just watched from the armchair by the bed. "Even when you're here not here. All you think about is work! You started skipping church, lunch with your parents… Shit, you forgot my  _ birthday  _ and picked up an extra shift!"

"I thought I made that up to you," Uhura said beseechingly.

"You did," Jim conceded, his blond hair dishevelled from him running his hands through it in frustration. "But the moment you could see that you'd put out the fire, you went right back to the hospital."

"The ED was full, I-”

"You just can't switch off, can you?" Jim said angrily. "Until you find someone you love more than your job, you're always going to be on your own."

"Please don't go, Jim," Uhura said tearfully. "I can do better, I promise. I'm- I'm sorry!" 

"It's too late, Bones," Jim said regretfully, turning to face her with his suitcase in hand. "You could've but you didn't. We've talked about this over and over again and you just kept brushing me off. I think it's time to call it quits."

"But-"

"Also," Jim said softly, cutting her off. "I met someone else."

"Oh," Uhura said dumbly. "You were cheating on me." 

"I am sorry for that," Jim said, his blue eyes glassy and red-rimmed. "But he… He truly cares about me. There's room for me in his life."

"There's room for you in mine," Uhura said weakly. 

Jim smiled ruefully, averting his eyes. 

"We both know that's not true," Jim whispered. 

"I… I respect your choice," Uhura said, a single tear running down her face. "I want you to be happy, even if it's not with me." 

Jim leaned down to place a soft kiss on her cheek, squeezing her shoulder. 

"Don't let your job consume you, Bones," Jim whispered. "There's no use saving lives if you're wasting yours."

And then he was gone. 

Uhura went back to work, still in her scrubs.

It hurt so deep and so profoundly to come home to their cold and empty apartment. It hurt even more when Jim came back to serve her the divorce papers. 

"Let's not fight about this, him?" Jim had whispered. 

She signed them then and there and Jim agreed to come back and take the rest of his things. Nothing more and nothing less. They split the money in their joint account before closing it and with that, Jim was gone. 

Uhura didn't feel like she was even in her body anymore, she felt like she floated untethered from her body as she coasted through the day. Her home didn't feel like home anymore and her job only made her feel sick and resentful. It didn't matter how many lives she saved or warts she froze off. It all left her cold and empty.

Working in the Emergency Department used to make her feel so  _ alive _ . The near-constant rush and excitement and fulfilment of pulling someone back from the brink of death… It was  _ electric _ . 

She realised though, that she was addicted to it. The rush and excitement was her heroin, she'd seen enough addicts come on to know the signs. 

"I'd like to resign," she'd said to her Department Chair and best friend, Zoe.

"Why?" Zoe had sighed, steepling her fingers.

"My attachment to this job is... unhealthy," Uhura admitted. "That's why Jim left me."

"Fair enough," Zoe conceded. "How about some time off instead?"

"No," Uhura sighed. "As long as it's possible for me to come back, I will."

"You need a change of pace, huh?" Zoe asked, eyeing Uhura with a calculating look.

"Yes," Uhura said, throwing her hands up. Finally, she gets it.

"Alright," Zoe nodded. "I'm transferring you."

"What?!"

"To Triple Oak, Montana," Zoe smirked. 

"To where?!"

"Exactly."

"Zoe, I-"

"Uhura, this place is quite possibly the tiniest town in the history of towns," Zoe told her. "They need a new doctor since their last one retired. You'll be a GP, maybe see like five patients a week compared to your current...what? 80 a week?" 

"Zoe," Uhura pled, shoulders slumping.

"This is what you wanted," Zoe pointed out. "Less stress, less drama, less excitement. Nobody else will take this job since it's in the middle of nowhere so the clinic over there has been putting out feelers. I think you're perfect for the job. You're my best ED attending, Uhura." 

"I suppose you're right," Uhura conceded. 

"You haven't been yourself, sweetie," Zoe said softly. "I think this'll be good for you. Give it a few months, if you really think it's not working, I'll take you back."

Uhura thought about it, about her empty apartment and her far-off family. About how cold it was in Zoe's office. 

"Fine," Uhura sighed. 

"Awesome! You start on Monday!" Zoe said, clapping her hands. "I promise to visit you real soon."

"Woah, wait a minute, that's in a-"

"A week! Exciting, right?" Zoe grinned.

And just like that, almost like it was a dream, Uhura was bundled up nice and snug and driving to Triple Oak, Montana. 

It was cold, cold "as a witch's tit" as Zoe often said, the landscape an almost blinding white punctuated by thin black trees with nary a leaf between them. 

There was a cabin waiting for her that she'd rented, deciding to indulge herself if she was going to be living in this icy hell. The cabin was a little out of the way but she preferred it that way and judging by the side-eyeing she was receiving in town when she bought her groceries, she figured the residents preferred it that way too. Uhura was no stranger to sticking out. In school, in her career. A fly in milk, as one of her professors delicately put it. 

"So you're the new nurse, huh?" The overly chipper bottle blonde at the cash register asked. 

"No, I'm the new doctor," Uhura responded with a sharp challenging grin. 

"Oh," the woman said, smile flagging. "Your first job or…?"

"No, I've worked in the Emergency Department for ten years," Uhura smiled again, enjoying the way the woman flinched. "Although I started out in cardiothoracic as Department Chair, I liked the more hands-on environment of emergency where I became Chief Resident."

"Oh," the woman repeated dumbly. "Aren't you well decorated."

"Hm, you could say that," Uhura smirked. "I'll be seeing you. Hopefully, not too often."

"Oh ho ho," the lady laughed nervously. "I see what you did there."

You kind of had to be tough as nails when you were a black female chief resident. Especially in the emergency department. Lord knows how many skinheads she'd saved from stab wounds and overdoses. She took an oath and she would damn well keep it. She'd earned her stripes and she'd make sure everyone in the accursed town knew it. 

Uhura was trudging through the snow into the house, arms full of groceries when she saw him, smoking on his balcony. Her neighbour. 

He was clothed completely in black, his ash-blond hair falling over his eyes, one of which was covered in an eyepatch. The smoke dissipates and reveals a robust chevron moustache and stubble. His eyes flick towards her and giving her a small wave before she startled and hurried inside throwing him a nervous wave.

Uhura had assumed that the cabin beside hers was empty given the silence but she figured that she should introduce herself to her new neighbour. It was only out of politeness, definitely not curiosity and a misplaced sense of attraction. 

And so she found herself feverishly baking a pie, a pumpkin since everyone liked pumpkin pie, and after a shower and bundling herself up, she found herself transported and at the man's front door. 

_ Why am I here? Am I trying to rebound? He's probably married given his age. I should go, this is weird-  _

But she had already knocked and there were footsteps already approaching.

_ Shit shit shit shit shit.  _

And then the door swung open to reveal the mysterious man, eye patch and all. He looked surprised to see her for a split second before his face fell back into a mask of indifference. He looked tired.

"Um, well, hi!" Uhura chirped. "My name's Uhura and I'm the new doctor in town. Uhura Maina. I thought I'd introduce myself to my new neighbour." 

He simply blinked.

_ Why the fuck am I here? _

"Duncan," he finally said, his voice deliciously deep and raspy with an accent she couldn't quite place. "Duncan Vizla. It's lovely to meet you, doctor." 

She shook his hand and he squeezed her smaller hand slightly. His hands were large and calloused and Uhura's mind was hurtling to places it shouldn't have been. 

"Oh, no need to call me doctor," Uhura laughed nervously. "Just Uhura is fine.",

"Uhura," Duncan echoed, smiling slightly, his good eye golden and twinkling cleverly. "Uhura like…"

"Yes, like Lieutenant Uhura from Star Trek," she laughed shyly. "My parents were serious Trekkies. So am I to be honest."

"You all have good taste," Duncan smiled. 

A man of few words. Hot. 

_ Stop it.  _

"I- I brought you a pumpkin pie," Uhura stammered. Jeez, calm down. "Like a neighbourly gesture, I guess."

"You shouldn't have," Duncan smiled, taking the pie from her with his hands brushing against hers as he did. 

"I wanted to," Uhura rushed out. "You're the only person who hasn't given me the stink eye since I got here." 

"It wasn't hard," Duncan smirked. "Would you like to come in and have some pie?"

"Oh, I mean, uh, the pie's for you," Uhura stammered. What was he doing to her?

Duncan remained unruffled and seemed to enjoy her flustering, his smirk growing. He emitted quiet, dangerous energy that drew Uhura in like a moth to a flame. Her skin felt scorching. 

"I could use the company," Duncan smiled affably, stepping to the side to let her in. 

And seemingly caught in some kind of thrall, Uhura stepped forward and into the warmth of Duncan's cabin. 

  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Let me know what you think! Fair warning. I'm gonna drag this out.


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> First contact contd. They talk, get to know each other.

Uhura looked around Duncan's home and found it as cosy as your average cabin but quite sparse. He clearly lived alone.

"You have a dog?" Uhura asked, pointing at sole chew toys strewn across the living room floor.

"Had," Duncan corrected. "He...died."

"Oh, I'm so sorry, Duncan," Uhura said softly.

"It's alright," Duncan shrugged, looking tired again. "I didn't have him too long."

"Oh."

"Please, sit," Duncan said, smiling to break the tension. "I'll cut you a slice of pie. Do you want coffee with that?" 

"Ceylon tea if you have it, please," she said, settling into the soft leather couch with a sigh. 

"So what brings you Triple Oak?" Duncan asked from the kitchen. 

"You don't wanna know," Uhura laughed awkwardly. "It's a long story full of sighs." 

"That's my favourite kind of story," Duncan retorted with a smirk. 

"I, uh… Shit," Uhura swore softly. "I got divorced a couple of months ago. My husband thought I was more committed to my job than I was to him… I'm sorry, you don't want to hear this."

"I do," Duncan said sincerely, holding out a plate of pie to her. "That's why I asked. I'd like...us to be friends." 

"Really?" Uhura asked, trying not to sound too hopeful.

"You're not the only one who gets the stink eye around here," Duncan smirked. "So. What brings you to Triple Oak?"

"Well," Uhura huffed in amusement and surprise. "Yeah, so, my divorce. I'm...I  _ was _ a workaholic so my husband, Jim-"

"Jim? Like Jim Kirk?" Duncan asked, eyes twinkling with amusement. 

"Just a regular Jim," Uhura laughed. "Regular Jim met someone else that had time for him and left me."

"I'm sorry to hear that," he said seriously. 

"It was my fault," she shrugged. "Anyway, my job-I was an emergency room doctor- my job didn't excite me anymore. After losing Jim… I didn't get that rush anymore."

"I think it goes without asking that you didn't come here for a rush," Duncan said wryly, coming back from the kitchen with her tea. She sipped it tentatively. Perfectly brewed and not too sweet. 

"No, I guess I figured… No, I knew that j was addicted to the chaos and the noise," Uhura shrugged. "So this is me quitting cold turkey." 

"Understandable," Duncan nodded, sitting down next to her on the couch with his slice of pie and cup of pitch-black coffee. He tastes the pie and hums approvingly. "The filling is very velvety. Delicious"

"I'm glad you like it," Uhura smiled, beaming at the praise. "Anyway, what brings you to Triple Oak?"

"I turned 50," Duncan shrugged. "Got laid off and decided it was a good time to retire." 

"What did you do before you retired?" Uhura asked. 

"I was… I was in the funeral business," Duncan said haltingly. Uhura assumed it was an awkward thing to talk about. 

"Oh okay," Uhura said casually. "Was it one of those big corporations?"

"Yes," Duncan said. 

"Mm, the smaller funeral homes are nicer to their employees," Uhura hummed. 

"Yes," Duncan said again. 

"Why retire in Triple Oak though? Why not Florida or California?" Uhura asked in confusion.

"It's peaceful here," Duncan said softly.

"Was it hard? Being so close to death all the time?" Uhura asked gently.

"I suppose you know what it's like in a way," Duncan sighed. "It weighs on you. But it can be exhilarating too. Life-affirming."

"Yeah," Uhura breathed, looking at Duncan in awe. "That's... that's exactly it."

Duncan simply smiled and toasted her with his cup of coffee. 

"Where are you from, Duncan?" Uhura asked. "Oh wait, was that rude? I don't mean to be one of those 'so where are you  _ really  _ from?' kind of people."

"No, that wasn't rude," Duncan laughed. "I moved around a lot so I don't consider myself to be from anywhere in particular."

"Choose one place," Uhura chuckled. 

"My parents," Duncan said thoughtfully. "They were Hungarian. So I'll go with Hungary."

"Cool," Uhura smiled. "How many countries have you been to?"

"Ninety-nine," Duncan nodded. 

"What?" Uhura squawked. "Ninety-nine?!"

"Yes," Duncan smirked. 

"I've been to like two," Uhura scoffed. "This one and my home countries."

"Where are  _ you  _ from?" Duncan asked.

"Kenya and Zambia," she said. "My parents live in Zambia. My extended family is spread out between both countries. I came here for college and I never left." 

"Uhura," Duncan said thoughtfully. "Comes from 'Uhuru, right? Freedom." 

"That's right," she nodded, impressed. "You're full of surprises, Duncan."

"Oh, you have no idea," Duncan chuckled. 

They chatted comfortably until their mugs and plates were empty and once they were, Duncan refilled them and they continued talking. Well, Uhura talked, Duncan mostly listened and offered the occasional quip. He was quite witty. 

Uhura loved listening to him talk, his voice deep and raspy, his accent lending a shape and flavour to each word. She tried not to drool over him too much given that he was 15 years her senior and probably not interested. Besides, she liked Duncan and didn't want a rebound to ruin their budding friendship.

"Oh, man, look at the time!" Uhura exclaimed. It was just past 7 pm and it was completely dark.

"Time flies when you're having fun, no?" Duncan smiled. 

"Yeah, it, uh, it really does," Uhura said, her face hurting from smiling so hard. "I had a really nice time."

"Me too," Duncan said softly, his eyes warm.

"I should go," Uhura said regretfully. "You probably want to get started on dinner."

"I'll walk you back across the lake," Duncan said, getting up and putting his coat on. 

"Oh, you don't-"

"I want to," Duncan interrupted smoothly with a small smile. "Come."

And Uhura's legs obeyed, somehow divorced from her brain, completely weak to Duncan's thrall and commanding nature. 

They walked in comfortable silence back to her cabin and Uhura found herself dreading parting from his company. 

"Thanks for the tea," she said shyly. "We should do this again sometime."

"I'd like that very much," Duncan smiled, nodding. "Dinner at mine tomorrow?" 

"Y-yeah," She nodded enthusiastically. "I'd like that very much, um, too."

"It's a date then," Duncan winked, and before Uhura's brain could come back online, he was gone. 

_ A date _ .

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Slooowwww buuurrnnnn


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> I'm really loving Duncan's energy ;)

Duncan had to admit that after the incident with Blut's attack dogs, he was suspicious of cute girls that took an interest in him. 

He wasn't stupid, he knew he was old and the eyepatch certainly wasn't doing him any favours. The only women who looked his way were usually looking at him in pity or suspicion. Maybe it was the moustache too? 

He knew that she had moved into Camille's old cabin and deemed quite shy when he waved at her but he was still suspicious. He had his gun tucked into his waistband when she came to the door, pie in hand. But then she blustered and stumbled over her words and something in him lurched forward in desire. 

Duncan liked to pretend that he didn't have a type but he did and she was exactly it. Not exactly petite but shorter than him, shy and awkward. Easy to tease and fluster. Duncan knew a sub when he saw one. 

But perhaps that was the cover. Perhaps, the pie was poisoned or she was more delectable and fuckable bait to get him to lower his guard. He wouldn't fall for it. Not this time.

But then he invited her in and offered her the pie which she ate with zero hesitation. And then he offered her tea which she also drank with no hesitation. If she was an assassin, then she was either stupid or incredibly trusting  _ and  _ stupid. 

So he talked to her and she listened and talked back, smiling shyly all the while like she wasn't holding a conversation with someone whom many would consider a mass murderer. She talked to him like he was... normal.  _ Human.  _

He found himself disappointed when he was walking her home. He wasn't one for talking much but he liked talking to Uhura. Uhura who was trying to quit adrenaline cold turkey. 

He didn't understand why he was so drawn to her. She was by all accounts an ordinary person but she intrigued Duncan the same way a new mission used to. He knew that he had to take things slow with her, given that she was freshly divorced but that didn't deter him. It should've but it didn't. It just excited him even more.

He wondered if he was trying to find someone to replace Camille. Someone to make him feel human. He'd been attached to Camille because he thought that instead of breaking and destroying, he could  _ fix  _ her. That he could chase the nightmares away and make her stop jumping at loud noises. That didn't work out.

Uhura was different though, she was just trying to have a life outside of her job and Triple Oak happened to be the place to do it. She was a wild card. He didn't know what place he would hold in her life if any at all, and that thrilled him. Even if he never got in her pants, just being around her was electric.

He could only hope that if she would let one thing excite her again, it would be him.

***

"Hey," Uhura beamed at the door. "You didn't, uh, give me a specific time so I hope I'm not too early."

"Not at all," Duncan said affably, stepping aside to let her in. "I wish you'd come earlier even."

"Was that a joke, Duncan?" Uhura asked in mock surprise, entering the cabin and smelling Duncan's cologne as she passed. "It's a good thing I brought shitty grocery store wine, I might just hear a few more."

"Hm, don't get your hopes up," Duncan said wryly as he went back to stirring a pot on the stove. "I hope you like stew and fresh bread."

"I love both of those things," she smiled, shrugging her coat off. That left her in a figure-hugging turtleneck that seemed a little small around the, uh, chest area. Duncan stared fastidiously at the bubbling stew. "You didn't have to do all this, Duncan. I would've been cool with pizza or something."

"That wouldn't be very gentlemanly of me," Duncan chided gently. "Feel free to make yourself comfortable at the table."

Duncan set down their respective bowls of stew with a plate of garlic rolls to share between them. He poured them each a glass of the wine Uhura brought and he observed that it was a sweet Rosé.

"Rosé," Duncan hummed thoughtfully, before taking a sip. "Very sweet."

"I know," she said bashfully. "I just don't like the taste of alcohol, I like my drinks sweet and cold. You probably think I'm a child…"

"Not at all," Duncan said softly. "I think it's...cute."

"Oh," Uhura said dumbly, smiling shakily. "Oh, I, um, thanks."

_ Why is every brain cell I have on leave right now?  _

They ate in relatively comfortable silence, occasionally breaking the silence to chat about something or the other while Uhura tried to ignore Duncan's leg pressing against hers under the small kitchen table. Duncan didn't seem bothered, so if he wasn't gonna say anything then neither would she. 

"What made you want to be a doctor?" Duncan asked in one of the lulls in conversation. 

“My strict African parents?” Uhura said wryly. “No, I’m kidding. I always had a fascination with biology and then I learnt about the issues that basic human biology cooks up and I wanted to do something about it.”

“People don’t stay fixed for very long though, do they?” Duncan mused. 

“No, they don’t,” Uhura sighed. “I think that’s why I was so obsessed with staying at the hospital. I guess I thought that if I took my eyes off my patients they would just fall apart all over again.”

“You like to be in control,” Duncan nodded. It wasn’t a question.

“I… I suppose I do,” Uhura laughed in surprise. “Wow, I never thought of myself as a control freak until now but it is  _ frighteningly  _ accurate.”

“One needs to give up control sometimes,” Duncan said, tearing into a garlic roll and pinning her with a look. 

“H-how?” Uhura squeaked, Duncan’s eye gleaming in the dim light of the room. 

“There are ways,” Duncan shrugged, something mischievous playing about his features. “Are you finished with that?”

“What?” Uhura gaped before realising her bowl of stew was empty. “Oh, yeah, I’m finished, thank you.”

Duncan cleared the table and Uhura found herself following him in an almost trance-like state, wanting to be close to him. You know. As a friend.

“Why don’t you help me load the dishwasher,” Duncan said with quiet firmness. Again, it wasn’t a question. 

“Of course,” she responded, nodding eagerly. 

"Rinse the dishes," Duncan told her. "Make sure the water's warm."

Uhura complied, rinsing their bowls and glasses methodically and she found herself turning to Duncan for instructions. It wasn't like she didn't know what to do next but something in her wanted to hear it from Duncan. 

"Good," he hummed approvingly and every hair on her arms stood on end. "Now load the dishwasher."

So she did, setting the machine to start, a soft whirring sound in the kitchen as Uhura waited for the next instruction. 

"Let's go outside," Duncan said hoarsely. "I need a cigarette."

He put his jacket on and so did Uhura. He stepped out onto the deck and she followed, the two of them leaning on the wood railing as Duncan took a cigarette out. 

"Light that for me," Duncan said. Once again, not a question and Uhura's skin buzzed. It wasn't a question, she realised. 

It was an order. 

"You know I took the Hippocratic oath, right?" Uhura asked wryly, her mouth a little too dry. "These things could kill you."

"Many have tried and failed," Duncan smirked. "Do as I say, Uhura."

So with shaking hands she took his lighter and lit his cigarette, the flame making his eye look like a pool of gold, fixed solely on her in the darkness that surrounded them. 

"Thank you," he said lowly and Uhura shivered and hoped that he would think it was because of the cold. "Do you mind if I sit down? I have a bad knee."

"Go ahead," Uhura said before her brow furrowed in concern. "Has your knee been bothering you long? Any swelling?" 

Duncan lowered himself into the chair with a soft sigh, before looking up at her with a smirk. 

"Stop that," Duncan ordered, taking a long drag from his cigarette. "I'll come to see you on Monday if it'll make you feel better but right now… you're not Dr Maina."

"Then who am I?" She asked, her voice sounding far away to her own ears. 

"Does it matter?" Duncan asked softly and his words flowed over her like warm water. 

"No… I guess not." 

"I don't have another chair for you," Duncan said. "Sit here."

Beside his leg was a large cushion that probably belonged to Duncan's dearly departed dog. Uhura hesitated.

"Sit down awhile," Duncan ordered his wolfish eye unflinchingly on her. 

So she sat down on the cushion and crossed her legs, resisting the urge to lean her head against his leg. 

"Relax," Duncan rumbled. "That's why you came here, isn't it?"

So she relaxed and let her head fall against his leg, resting just where his knee was, and rubbing her cheek against the soft fabric of his pants. 

"Good," Duncan rumbled. "We'll just sit here for a bit."

And they did. 

The smell of cigarette smoke curled around Uhura, the slow sizzle seeming loud in the stark silence. Duncan was warm, so warm and it felt so  _ good _ to just be. Because he had told her to. 

He smoked his cigarette leisurely, the fingers of his other hand lazily running through her braids, occasionally tugging on a braid here and there ever so gently, making her sigh ever so slightly.

Whether minutes or hours had passed she didn't know, but eventually, Duncan finished his cigarette stubbing it out in a nearby ashtray. Uhura hadn't fallen asleep but her body had the feeling of having just woken up, loose and pliant and warm. 

Duncan tapped her shoulder lightly and she sat up groggily. He stood up and then crouched down in front of her, holding her shoulders as he helped her stand. 

"Come back to me," Duncan said softly, holding her face in his hands and she blinked rapidly like she was waking up from an afternoon nap. "Thatta girl. You must've been really tired."

"I… I think so," Uhura slurred slightly. "Sorry about that."

"Don't apologize," Duncan smiled. "I wanted you to relax. Come on, I'll take you home."

And he did, Uhura leaning a little too heavily on him as he did. She felt like she was walking on clouds instead of crunching through the snow. Eventually, Duncan deposited her at her doorstep, Uhura swaying slightly on her feet. 

"Thank you," Duncan said. "I had a wonderful time." 

"Mmm, me too," she hummed happily. "A really nice time, Duncan." 

"I'm glad to hear that," Duncan smiled. "I'm going to go now. Get some sleep, Uhura." 

"Yes, Duncan," Uhura smiled, nodding. 

And with an approving nod, he was gone, enveloped in snow and darkness. 

Uhura slept the best sleep she'd had in years. 

***

Uhura came to awareness slowly, like her consciousness was trying to break through the surface tension of syrup. 

She fumbled for her phone and checked the time and when she saw that it was 9:45 am, she panicked, convinced that she was late for her first day of work before seeing that it was Sunday. 

She couldn't remember having slept so well in years. She didn't know what Duncan had done to her to get her to unwind so completely but she wanted him to do it again. 

And then all of a sudden, she was assaulted by feelings of shame and embarrassment. How could she have been so… How could she have been running after Duncan like some lost puppy? Was she really so starved for love and approval that she was clamouring for even a crumb of Duncan's approval? He probably felt sorry for her. 

_ I was nuzzling his fucking leg! What am I, a cat?!  _

That was it. She had to go and apologize. She had to go apologize before she lost the only friend she has in town. 

Cue more feverish baking, this time it was a vanilla cake, her special recipe. She used dark brown sugar in it, giving it a caramel-like flavour. She frosted it with an obscene amount of buttercream that was directly proportional to the amount of embarrassment she felt. Before she could psyche herself out, she was traipsing over to his cabin and knocking on his door with shaking hands. 

_ Don't drop the fucking cake _ . 

"Uhura," Duncan said with a fond smile. "Good morning." 

"Uh, hi! Good morning," Uhura stammered. "I brought you, um, I brought you a cake."

"I can see that," Duncan smirked, tilting his head to the side slightly and taking the cake. "Thank you. It looks delicious."

"I, um, god, how do I say this?" Uhura groaned. "I'm-I'm sorry for acting so weird last night. I think I had a little too much wine or-"

"Uhura," Duncan interrupted. "You didn't do anything wrong."

"I… I didn't?" She gaped.

"No," Duncan smiled. "Come inside and I'll... explain."

"Explain? What- I don't understand-"

"Uhura."

"Right."

Duncan sat her down, depositing a slice of cake in her hand before he sat across from her at the kitchen table. Neither of them tasted the cake. 

"How familiar are you with subspace?" Duncan asked bluntly.

"Totally unfamiliar," Uhura retorted with a lopsided smile. 

"Hm. Right," Duncan sighed. "Do you know what...BDSM is?"

"Yes, to an extent," Uhura nodded, brow furrowed in confusion. "But what has that got to do with anything."

"I said last night that you had to give up control," Duncan said, steepling his fingers. "So I gave you a few simple commands, just to get you out of your own head. It was a scene of sorts." 

"But there weren't any ropes or whips," Uhura said in confusion. "And we didn't…"

"BDSM isn't always sexual," Duncan shrugged. "It was a scene. Not a particularly intense one but a scene nonetheless."

"Okay," Uhura shrugged. "What has that got to do with how fucking mortified I feel."

"You're dropping," Duncan explained. "Your brain was full of endorphins and now you're coming down. Some people feel irritable, depressed, or in your case, embarrassed."

"Oh."

"I… I'm sorry, Uhura," Duncan said seriously. "I should have talked to you before I did that. Gotten your consent and known your limits. I was impulsive and I'm sorry." 

"I liked it," Uhura blurted. "Last night felt...good."

"Oh. Well," Duncan breathed. "Even so, we should've talked about it. We haven't known each other long after all. I'm sorry."

"It's okay, Duncan," Uhura smiled. "Really."

"Thank you," Duncan smiled. 

"So… Are you going to taste that cake or what?" Uhura asked playfully. 

And just like that, things were back to normal. Duncan quipped ever so often while Uhura spoke for the most part. It was like nothing had happened. 

But something had happened, hadn't it?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ooooh things are simmering now hehe


	5. Chapter 5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Feeling a little shy about this chapter lol

Uhura could not believe how boring the Triple Oak clinic was. It had been just over two weeks and Uhura got chummy with the nursing staff, becoming especially close to the head nurse, Max, who was a literal ray of sunshine in a frozen wasteland. There were four other nurses and a janitor who she was on a first-name basis with but Max was her buddy. 

But even with Max around, the most exciting thing she treated was a fungal rash on the sheriff's back and checking that none of his moles was potentially cancerous. Spoiler: they weren't. 

"How do you live like this, Max?" Uhura groaned over sandwiches at lunch. 

"Like what, lieutenant?" Max chuckled, brown eyes crinkling in amusement as he sipped sparkling water like a psychopath.

"Live without any... excitement!" Uhura exclaimed. "Nobody ever comes here! And if they do it's for a cold or a wart or a pregnancy scare from a fifteen-year-old."

"So...what?" Max chuckled. "You want more people to get sick?" 

"No," Uhura groaned. "It's just… if I have to sit in my office playing Control on Steam, I'll start losing brain cells."

"Is that your professional opinion?" Max smirked and Uhura swatted at him, missing narrowly.

They were having lunch in her office, nattering on about the rude patient they'd had that morning when Nurse Beth knocked and poked her head in. 

"Lieutenant," Nurse Beth said. Lieutenant had become Uhura's affectionate moniker since day one given that she was the medical director of the clinic. "You have a patient."

"Oh joy," Uhura deadpanned. "Let me guess, a sore throat?" 

"Routine checkup," Beth smiled regretfully. 

"Fine, send them in," Uhura sighed, clearing her desk of all traces of her lunch. 

"Have fun," Max winked, ducking out of her office.

Uhura fixed her ponytail, brushing her hand through her braids until she felt every inch the experienced doctor, adjusting her glasses in the process. 

_ Let's kick this checkups ass!  _

Imagine her surprise when Beth opened the door to let in no other than Duncan Vizla, a vision in black as always. 

"Duncan," she breathed happily. "Come on in. Thanks, Beth."

Beth winked knowingly and closed the door softly, leaving them alone. Duncan made himself comfortable in the chair across from Uhura.

"How are you doing?" Uhura asked.

"Good," Duncan answered in his usual brief way, smiling in a way that seemed reserved for Uhura. "How are you?"

"You know, I don't get that question often," Uhura chuckled. "I'm doing just fine, thanks for asking."

"So, you're here for a general checkup?" Uhura asked, trying to maintain professionalism. "When was your last checkup?" 

"About a year ago," Duncan said. "I had my file sent to this clinic."

"Okay," Uhura said slowly, checking for Duncan's file on her monitor. "Ah, here it is. Okay, seems like everything looked ay-okay the last time you were here but… Says here that you have shrapnel still embedded in your side?"

Duncan noted her alarm with no small amount of amusement and shrugged. "It's not so bad."

"Duncan," she said seriously, taking off her glasses. "If you fall wrong, that shrapnel could puncture your lung." 

"Then I just won't fall wrong," Duncan smirked. 

"Duncan," Uhura sighed. "The surgery would be quick with minimal recovery since the shrapnel is just below the skin. We could do it in the OR here."

"Let's see how the checkup goes," Duncan said ominously. 

Uhura held in another sigh. Duncan, she realised, was stubborn. 

"If you could sit on the bed just behind you," she instructed and Duncan thankfully obliged. 

She took a tongue depressor and stood in front of him, close enough to feel his body heat. She cleared her throat. 

"Open up, please," she said shakily. Duncan complied and she checked his throat, finding everything in order aside from the worrying number of missing molars and scar tissue on the insides of his cheeks. People bite their cheeks all the time though. 

"Looks good," she muttered, before switching to using her otoscope to check his ears. "Ears look good too, no signs of cotton or wax accumulation. No trouble hearing, right?"

"What was that?" Duncan asked, and Uhura rolled her eyes in amusement.

"Haha very funny," she deadpanned.

"My last doctor said the same thing."

"You need new material." 

Uhura checked his reflexes, all of which were razor-sharp and didn't seem to show any signs of slowing down despite Duncan having already clocked 50. It was time to listen to his heart and lungs and Uhura found herself nervous about checking someone's heart for the first time in ten years. Former head of cardiothoracic and she's nervous about checking a man's heart. But it wasn't just any man's heart, it was Duncan. 

See, Uhura had never touched Duncan beyond a handshake and now her hand would be under his shirt. 

_ Breathe.  _

"Alright, I'm going to check your heart and lungs,", Uhura informed him. "I'm going to put my hand under your shirt, is that alright?"

"Go ahead," Duncan nodded, his eyes never leaving her. 

Uhura put in her stethoscope earpieces and took the bell in hand before slowly lifting Duncan's shirt. She slid her hand up his surprisingly toned abs before resting the bell of her stethoscope over his heart which beat steady and strong. Unwavering where Uhura's heart was racing, parts of her hand resting against warm skin and being brushed by chest hair. 

"Heart sounds good," Uhura said softly, avoiding Duncan's gaze. "Great actually."

"I get a lot of exercise," Duncan said but he said it like there was something funny he remembered a private little joke. 

Uhura moved the bell to rest on Duncan's side, and she heard a slight metallic clink. She eyed Duncan who simply smirked. She moved it up some and told Duncan to take a slow but deep breath in and slow but deep breath out, his breath fanning across her face. His skin was so warm and Uhura wished she could press her hands to his body until he burned her up from the inside out. 

"Breathing sounds good too," she said before side-eyeing him. "Surprisingly."

"Surprisingly," Duncan echoed, chuckling hoarsely. 

"You should really quit," Uhura said seriously.

"I think the cigarettes make me look sexy," he drawled in his sinfully accented voice. "I have so few things going for me."

"Don't say that," Uhura chided, trying to maintain composure as she ran her hands along his jaw, feeling his lymph nodes but more importantly his stubble. "You have a lot going for you."

"Really?" He asked sarcastically. "Like what?"

"Your eyes," she shrugged, feigning nonchalance. "Your cheekbones, your lips… You're pretty well-built and- and tall. The moustache hides you some but… you're a handsome man." 

"My eye," Duncan corrected with a smile. "You've really thought about it, huh?"

"I'm not blind, Duncan," Uhura huffed. "Anyway, you have no excuse to keep smoking."

"If I get rid of the moustache _ and  _ keep smoking, I'll be drop-dead gorgeous," Duncan mused. 

"That is literally the opposite of my point."

Uhura checked Duncan's blood pressure which was impeccable, ironic since hers was sky high at that moment, she checked his wrists, skin, hair and found everything normal, and decided to round off with The Quiz.

"Current job?"

"Retired."

"Marital status?"

"Why? Would you like to take me out?"

"Duncan."

"Single. And no next of kin."

"On any medications? Any allergies?'

"No and no."

"Any recent surgeries?"

"Not if I could help it. So no."

Uhura stopped for a moment when she got to her last question. 

"Recent sexual activity?" 

"Hm. Maybe six months ago," Duncan said matter-of-factly.

"Protected?" Uhura asked, jealousy clawing its way up her throat. 

"Unprotected," Duncan said, eyeing her curiously.

"Let's not...do that," Uhura said awkwardly.

Uhura looked away, updating his medical records and typing more aggressively than she should've been. 

"Okay," she said tightly. "I'm just gonna take some blood for a full blood panel."

She took his blood, Duncan remaining unruffled like he didn't even notice the pinprick of the needle. It had been a while since she'd drawn blood, the nurses usually running point on that, so Uhura knew she hadn't done it as seamlessly and painlessly as it could've been done. But still, Duncan remained stoic.

Once Max came in and took the blood, Duncan inexplicably watching him quite closely, it was almost the end of the physical. Only one thing remained. 

The prostate and genital exam.

_ Oh, god, why did I become a doctor?  _

"Okay, so the last order of business is the prostate and genital exam," Uhura said in her Doctor Voice™. "You have the right to refuse this exam or request a male nurse perform the exam."

"You can go ahead," Duncan shrugged. "I'm at that age after all." 

Uhura screwed her head on straight and performed the prostate exam exactly the way she would for any other patient and tried to ignore the abject relief she felt when everything was normal. Part of her was waiting for the other shoe to drop given Duncan's fantastic health despite his scarred body. Cancer had a cruel sense of humour but thankfully, Duncan was as strong as an ox. 

Uhura felt closer to Duncan than ever. Her hands had traversed the planes of his body, her eyes trailed across every ghostly blue vein and mole, and drunk in every expense of tanned flesh. She knew his exact height and his exact weight. She knew that he was ticklish around his neck and that he hated prostate exams. She knew what his heart sounded like and she had heard the determined rush of air through his lungs. It was more than being stripped naked and the tension in the room reflected that. Uhura felt like she needed to strip as well, make it so that they were on equal footing.

_ It's just a physical.  _

"Okay, no sign of swelling," she nodded happily. "Now, I'm going to touch your genitals. Let me know if my hands are cold or you experience any pain or discomfort."

She lifted his shirt and came face to face with his member, large even though it was flaccid and she felt Duncan's eyes boring into her. She took his shaft in hand and examined it for any abnormalities but her stupid whore brain could only fixate on its size. 

_ That is so inappropriate! He's a patient!  _

  
  


She palpated his groin to check for lumps and hernias before taking his balls in her hand and checking for asymmetry and lumps, palpating them gently. It was when she did this that his cock started to harden, slowly but steadily filling with blood until he was completely at attention.

"Any," Uhura started hoarsely before clearing her throat. "Any pain?' 

"Not at all," Duncan said lowly, his voice almost a growl. 

She held his cock in her hand, hot and thick and throbbing and she almost forgot that she was checking for discharge. But no, there was no discharge. Only precum. 

She checked everything again, given that she hadn't absorbed or noted anything the first time, taking her time to make sure she didn't fuck up and all the while, his cock twitched in front of her. Perfectly in time with his strong heartbeat.

"Everything seems in order," she said with a strained smile, meeting Duncan's knowing one-eyed gaze. She remembers that Odin traded his eye for knowledge.

_ I'm wet. I'm wet and he knows it.  _

"Any history of, ahem, erectile dysfunction?" She asked. 

"No," Duncan smirked, leaning back on his arms, his cock still persistently hard, stiff against his stomach. "None at all."

"It's, ahem, it's perfectly normal," Uhura said shakily, licking her lips. "To become...erect during the exam."

"That's good to hear," Duncan smirked. "Something to take care of at home, I suppose."

"Y-yeah, yup, that's, um, that's right," Uhura stammered. "Okay, that's it, um, you can get dressed behind the curtain." 

Duncan got dressed, his lithe form relaxed while Uhura was tense and sweating and painfully aroused, her clit stiff. She pressed her thighs together, typing frantically to give herself something to do. 

"Your blood panel came back," she said as he stepped out from behind the curtain fully clothed, his erection still visible through his pants. "Um, everything looks good." 

"Great," Duncan smiled. That knowing smile…

"I would really advise that you quit the cigarettes," Uhura said seriously, slowly coming back to herself with space between them. "And no more unprotected sex."

"I prefer unprotected sex," Duncan retorted. 

"Alright," Uhura said dumbly. "At least get tested regularly with future partners and discuss birth control with your next partner."

"I'll be sure to do that," he smirked wryly. "Anything else?"

"Eat healthily, exercise, don't drink too much," Uhura said flippantly. "The usual. I am concerned about the number of scars on your body, especially over soft tissue-" 

"Thank you, doctor," Duncan interrupted with a smile. 

"Any time," Uhura smiled shyly. 

Duncan turned to leave before he turned around to say one last thing.

"Why don't we make a standing arrangement," Duncan said. "Saturday and Sunday nights. Dinner with just the two of us."

"I, uh, I'd really like that," Uhura smiled. 

"Great," Duncan nodded. "You're cooking this Saturday."

And then he was gone. Once again it wasn't a question or a request.

It was a command. 

"Beth?" She said pressing her intercom. "Any more patients for today?"

"Nope," Beth said through the tinny speakers. "And any walk-ins have to wait half an hour."

"Great thanks."

Uhura, embarrassed as she was horny, hitches up her skirt and plants her feet on her desk as she slides back in her chair. She then pulls her panties to the side and rubs her stiff clit, dipping her fingers into her weeping gash until she cums, muffling a moan with her hand as she cums and squirts onto the paper sheet she'd had the foresight to sit down on. Only one word escapes her lips as she comes down. 

_ Duncan.  _

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thoughts? Feelings?


	6. Chapter 6

The moment Duncan parked his truck, he was almost flying out of the car and into the house, making a beeline for the bathroom. He took his cock out, painfully hard and stroked himself quickly, squirting some nearby lotion into his hand to make the slide easier. 

His mind replayed his checkup in great detail. He had felt a little embarrassed to be touched so intimately by her but he distracted himself by enjoying her flustering, her small hands shaking slightly as she touched him so gently. No one had touched him gently in years. Not even the sex workers he was too attached to. They would hold him afterwards sometimes but it was always missing... something. 

His mind went to the moment she started to touch his cock and balls, her touch oscillating between firm and gentle. It was the fact that it was her, sweet, unknowingly submissive Uhura. Fondling his balls in her warm and soft hands, he felt fit to burst. Her face was so close to his cock that he could feel her trembling breath on his sensitive flesh. 

As cliché as the idea was, he couldn't help but imagine a sexy doctor situation like in a cheesy porno. A situation where she would take his cock in hand and once she spied the precum leaking from his cock, she would seductively propose a hand job to make sure that everything was in working order, perhaps even taking him into her mouth, fondling his balls as she would choke on him. But that didn't happen, Uhura stammered cutely at his erection, her pupils dilated as she eyed his cock hungrily.

_ Did she really stare or are you being a delusional dirty old man?  _

She was so cute and innocent looking at that moment. Fumbling her words and even getting jealous when he mentioned a past sexual partner. Duncan wasn't infallible but he was pretty good at reading people and he knew jealousy when he saw it. Oh, it made him want to mount her even before she had his cock in her hands. 

Duncan groaned as he stroked himself, thinking about how distracted she was by his cock that she did the exam all over again before proclaiming him healthy. He circled the head of his cock with his slick hand, recalling how tightly pressed together her thighs were when he was about to leave and how her chest heaved, her eyes flicking back and forth between her computer and the bulge in his slacks.

"Such a cockhungry little girl, huh?" He panted to himself. "I'll give it to you. If you ask me nicely, little girl.  _ Yeah _ ."

Unbidden, the image of Uhura touching herself in her office came to his mind, her legs perhaps hitched up onto the arms of her chair, spreading her cute little kitty open for all to see as she rubbed at her clit. 

With a punched out groan his hips twitched and he was spurting cum all over his sink, thick ropes of cum coating the ceramic bowl. Thick ropes of cum that he imagined stuffing inside Uhura instead. 

He came down slowly, muttering Uhura's name before the endorphins drained out of his brain and he was struck by the reality of what he'd just done. 

If Duncan didn't control himself, he was going to lose a friend. The only friend he'd ever had. At the same time, he couldn't stop thinking about how easily she went down for him, obeying him so sweetly. It wouldn't be hard to train her, mould her into the perfect little sub and cockwhore. She wanted excitement but she wanted to give up control. It was the best of both worlds. 

Duncan cleaned up and wondered if his particular brand of excitement was a little extreme.

He would play nice then. He would play the friendly neighbour until she begged for him. 

Because as much as he wanted her, being a creature of base urges, he wanted her in his life more. Even if it meant never being with her in that sense.

***

"Door's open!" Uhura called, too busy searing marinated chicken on a ripping hot pan. She would never forgive herself if she burnt their dinner. 

Duncan opened the door tentatively and entered, clad in black as always, a thin, wide box wrapped in light blue paper in his hands.

"That could've been an axe murderer you let in," Duncan said disapprovingly.

"I knew it was you," Uhura smirked. "Saw you coming through the window. Besides, I know you'd protect me."

"I would," Duncan conceded, a dangerous glint to his eye. 

"Do you own any other colour besides black?" Uhura asked, changing the subject. 

"Hm," Duncan said, thinking for a moment. "No."

"Why not?" Uhura asked, setting the chicken aside and starting the cream sauce. 

"Black's my colour," Duncan smirked. "In fact, they used to call me-"

Duncan suddenly stopped himself, his face falling. 

"They used to call you what?" Uhura asked, her own smile flagging. 

"Nothing," Duncan said, waving his hand. "What are you making?"

Well. That was clearly the end of that conversation.

"Chicken Fettuccine Alfredo," Uhura said. "Hope you like Italian."

Duncan's gaze seemed far away for a second before he swallowed thickly. 

"Yes, I do," Duncan finally said.

"You feeling okay?" Uhura asked in concern. "This is me asking, not Dr Maina."

"I'm fine," Duncan said quietly. "Just lost in thought." 

"Is it… Is it because of what happened at the physical?" Uhura asked quietly, keeping her gaze on the cream sauce she was stirring. "I mean. I know it can be awkward and uncomfortable… Most of the men who see me for a physical never see me again unless something's really wrong. In which case, they have… bigger things to worry-"

"It's not because of the physical," Duncan smirked, enjoying her rambling. "I tend to drift off sometimes, that's all." 

"Do you drift off often?" Uhura asked. "Do you feel... detached from your body?"

"I came here to spend time with you," Duncan said with a fond smile. "Not for a psych eval." 

"See me on Monday?" Uhura asked hopefully. "I know a great-"

"Uhura." 

"Right, not an appointment," Uhura said, smiling ruefully. 

She adds the pasta to the sauce before dishing it out, slicing the chicken she'd set aside to rest and finding it delightfully moist. She set the slices of chicken atop the pasta and set the bowls on the kitchen table where a bottle of sweet white wine was waiting for them. 

"I didn't realize how much I missed cooking," Uhura remarked. "Especially cooking for people." 

"You're a giver," Duncan observed, sitting down at the table, still holding the present that Uhura tried to ignore. 

"I guess you could say that," Uhura shrugged, untying the apron she was wearing. Duncan eyed her in the dress as sweater she was in appreciatively. 

_ Did he? Or do you just wish he did?  _

"That's why you worry so much," Duncan said. "You're afraid that what you've given won't be enough."

"I thought we said that this wasn't a psych eval," Uhura drawled.

"Just observing," Duncan smiled. "I got you something." 

"Oh god," Uhura groaned. "Duncan-'

"A truly selfless person would take the gift because it would make the other person happy," Duncan interjected.

_ Fuck. _

"You have a point," Uhura sighed. "Fine. What is it?"

"Open it," Duncan smiled, handing it over. 

Uhura opened the wrapping paper methodically and delicately, thinking that maybe Duncan would want to reuse it.

"Ever the surgeon," Duncan quipped."Makes the gift all the more appropriate."

Uhura opened the wrapping paper and saw a wide wooden lacquered box with a golden clasp. Wide-eyed and with shaky hands, she flips open the clasp and opens the box to find a classic set of gold surgical equipment, scalpels and clamps, with ivory handles. 

"It's circa 1860," Duncan said proudly. "I know that medicine is your passion but it's to remind you that it's not about excitement. It's about legacy."

"Oh my god," Uhura breathed running her hand reverently over the tools. "How much did this cost?" 

"Don't worry about it," Duncan shrugged. "My pension is... sizable to say the least." 

"This is the nicest thing anyone's ever gotten me," Uhura said, getting choked up. "I can't accept this, Duncan."

"You must," Duncan said firmly. "And you will."

Uhura wanted to argue, even apologize but she didn't want to only think about what she wanted. Uhura's mouth snapped shut and Duncan averted his eyes before looking at her with a serious expression. 

"Would you," Duncan started. "Would you like me to take you down again?"

"Take me down?" 

"Into subspace," Duncan elaborated. "Another scene. Strictly platonic of course."

Uhura felt a little disappointed at that. But she remembered how amazing she'd felt after the last time, how weightless she felt with the endorphins flooding her brain. It was okay that it was platonic because they were just friends.

"Yes," she whispered. "Yes, I'd like to go down again."

Duncan nodded once and picked up his fork before gesturing at her plate. 

"Pick up your fork," Duncan said and Uhura obliged. "Good girl."

Uhura preened under his praise, holding her fork steadily as she waited for the next instruction. Again, it didn't matter that it was obvious what one did with a fork. Until Duncan said so, she wasn't moving a muscle. 

"Start eating your food," Duncan said, his voice soft but firm and cutting through the haze that was already settling over her mind. 

She picked up the fork and started eating slowly, her eyes flicking up at Duncan, her skin tingling when he nodded approvingly. 

"Pour us some wine," Duncan ordered. 

Uhura, hands shaking, poured Duncan sole first and then herself before setting the bottle down and corking it again. 

"Take a sip," Duncan ordered. "Only a small one." 

So she did, the wine tart and sweet on her tongue, her nose wrinkling at the slight bitterness. Even so, just as he ordered, she only took a small sip. 

"Keep eating," Duncan ordered. 

And just like that Uhura ate and drank at his instruction, her mind blissfully empty but awake and electrified at the same time. Her heart pounded hard but steadily in her chest and she felt herself wet between her legs, the sensation taking a back seat to the mental high she was on. It was like she'd handed over every mental control to Duncan and in turn, he lit up her every neuron. 

Once she was finished, she set her fork down and folded her hands in her lap. 

"Good girl," Duncan rumbled, his eye glinting. "You finished all your food and listened so well."

"Thank you," Uhura whispered, her eyes watering slightly at how  _ good  _ it felt to please Duncan. 

"Go wash the dishes," Duncan ordered. "I'll be waiting for you on the couch. Come to me when you're finished."

"Yes, Duncan," Uhura said softly. 

She washed the dishes, carefully and methodically, because Duncan had told her to do it and so she would do it well. Once she'd set everything in the drying rack, her legs took her straight to the living room where Duncan sat on the couch, a pillow at his feet. 

"Good girl," Duncan hummed and Uhura trembled at the way his voice seemed to caress her. "I'm going to give you a choice." 

Uhura nodded jerkily. 

"You may sit on the floor, at my feet," Duncan said, his gaze unflinching. "Or on my lap."

Uhura stood there, trembling imperceptibly. She wanted so badly to sit in his lap, it felt like an honour, in fact. But she was afraid, for whatever reason. Afraid that it would change things somehow or that she hadn't earned the right to sit in his lap. She didn't want to upset him though…

"I won't punish you for your choice, darling," Duncan said softly. "This only works if you want it. So what do you want?" 

"I want to sit at your feet," Uhura said shakily. "Please."

"Good girl," Duncan said with a slight smile. "Asking so nicely. Sit down." 

She sat down on the pillow, kneeling primly instead of crossing her legs just because it felt right. She gazed straight ahead, shivering when Duncan ran his hands through her braids, a soft sigh escaping her lips. 

"You like having your hair played with," Duncan observed. 

"I do," Uhura admitted softly, her every sense heightened. 

"Do you like it when I pull on it?" Duncan asked casually, tugging on one of her braids experimentally.

"Uh-huh," Uhura whimpered. 

Duncan shifts in his seat and moves to sit behind her, running his hands through her braids, his nails scratching against her scalp, lighting up every neuron in their wake. He grabbed a handful and tugged roughly, jerking her head back. 

"Does that hurt?" Duncan asked calmly even though Uhura was panting desperately at his feet. 

"Yeah," Uhura whimpered.

"But you like it don't you?" Duncan growled.

"I, uh, I do," Uhura gasped, light-headed with her eyes rolling back.

"One always arrives at pleasure by way of pain," Duncan whispered and Uhura whimpered a single word.

"Please."

Duncan kept tugging at her braids, scratching at her scalp, and even scratching down her neck, Uhura limp in his grasp as he somehow managed to drive her to incoherency just by touching her hair. 

He eventually started to pet her gently, his touch gentle as he caressed her head and neck and shoulders, her skin breaking out in goosebumps. He then let her head rest on his knee and she nuzzled it affectionately, mewling softly at the way the fabric felt on her sensitive skin. 

"Such a good kitten," Duncan praised and Uhura whimpered at the pet name. "Such a good little girl. You did so well."

"Thank you, thank you," Uhura muttered. "Thank you, Duncan."

"You're very welcome," Duncan hummed. 

He let her sit there for several moments, his fingers rubbing circles up and down her neck, behind her ear. He got up after what felt like five blissful years, holding her head in his hands and helping her stand. He held her face in his hands and tapped her cheek gently, as though waking her up.

"Come back to me, kitten," Duncan said softly and Uhura blinked slowly. "That's right. Come back to me." 

She blinked blearily at Duncan, her eyes rolling slightly but slowly growing brighter and more focused. 

"There she is," Duncan smiled approvingly. "Show me where your bedroom is."

Half-stumbling, she led him there and turned to him again for more instructions when he simply pushed her gently onto the bed and quickly tucked her in, brushing a braid out of her face. He got up and left, without warning and Uhura mewled in protest but he came back quickly with a glass of grapefruit juice and water. He helped her sit up and drink, making her take small sips until the glass was empty, doing the same with the water. 

"How do you feel?" Duncan asked, laying her back down. 

"Good," she slurred, smiling softly. " _ So good. _ "

"Good," Duncan chuckled, stroking her arm softly. "What do you need from me?" 

"Could you," she asked quietly. "Could you please hold me?"

"Of course," Duncan said softly, without an ounce of hesitation.

He toed off his boots and lay down with her, curling his tall frame around her. Safe and warm, she drifted off to sleep. A deep and dreamless sleep, punctuated by flashes of a knowing golden eye. 

When Uhura woke up, Duncan was gone but she didn't think much of it. Friends didn't sleep in the same bed after a scene, right? 

What she didn't realize was that she wouldn't see him for quite some time.


	7. Chapter 7

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Uh-oh

Duncan hadn't meant to duck out so unceremoniously. 

But there was just something about the way the sleeping winter sun shone through the curtains and fell across Uhura's face, revealing the warm earthy undertone to her skin. Like baked clay. Duncan had brushed a finger across her face and the warmth that she emanated made his heart lurch in his chest. 

And then he realised that he cared for Uhura deeply. He realised that he was falling for her. 

Duncan had never dated, never been married, scarcely even had a high school sweetheart. His past was a dark murky one full of violence and blood but most of all solitude. Duncan didn't know how to talk to people, he never learnt how usually to say the wrong thing and coming across as awkward and even ridiculous. So he rarely spoke. He didn't know how to love and be loved in return, so he lost himself in sex workers. He only ever hurt people, so the tenderness that Uhura showed him and that he tried awkwardly to show her…it was completely alien. 

So when he realised the depth of his developing feelings for Uhura, he did something he hadn't done since his first job killing a small-time Romanian drug runner: he panicked. He panicked and he left her cabin, walking quickly back to his own cabin. 

He grabbed a duffel and started stuffing it with clothes and a first aid kit but mostly with guns and knives. It wasn't a lot but it would be a start. He had to get away. He had to get away from her even though it physically hurt him. 

He needed another job. 

Just because he'd torn Damocles down with his bare hands didn't mean that there weren't any more jobs. Somebody always needed somebody else dead. And Duncan needed to do something that he knew, he needed to become the person that he knew. The Black Kaiser. Because the path Uhura was leading him down… here be dragons. 

"Jazmin," Duncan said shortly as the line connected. 

"Duncan," Jazmin said and he could hear the smile in her voice. "What a pleasant surprise."

"I need you to find me a job," Duncan said.

"Ah. And here I thought you were calling just to talk," Jazmin said wryly, her voice tinged with sadness. 

Jazmin was a beautiful girl and he knew that she was sweet on him. But Duncan knew that she could do better and she was still young enough to get out of their life in the fast lane. Live a normal life. Duncan just didn't see her that way but he did have some level of affection for her. But every time he called and heard that hopeful note in her voice, he knew that he was hurting her by even calling in the first place.

"I'm sorry, Jazmin," Duncan said softly. "It's just-"

"I know," Jazmin said, cutting him off. "Why do you need a job? You're a millionaire, Mr Vizla." 

"Retirement is making me restless," he said, tone clipped. 

"Okay," Jazmin said slowly. "I'll see what I can find. Give me ten minutes."

"Thanks." 

Duncan hung up and just like he always did, took the SIM card out, breaking it in half and tossing it onto the ashtray. 30 seconds on the phone. No more, no less. 

Duncan called Jazmin again, exactly ten minutes later and after another 30 seconds, he had a job. 

And then he got in his truck and drove away. 

***

Uhura was extraordinarily patient. You had to be, as a surgeon and as someone who had to work with people. You had to get used to time dragging painfully and persistently slow. You had to get used to blood panels taking a while to come back. You had to get used to the frustration of failing to pin down a diagnosis or pin down a patient for that matter. Through it all, you had to keep it together.

So when she didn't see Duncan for a week she kept it together. 

The frustration came with the fact that Duncan didn't have a cellphone, so she couldn't text him and make sure that he was alright.

That things were alright between them. 

Them mutually consenting to a scene, nonsexual or otherwise, it was a pretty big deal. Friends have brunch, they play Uno on Saturdays, and go to the movies together. They don't kneel for each other or call the other good little girls. Things had begun to blur. 

But before they could refocus things, Duncan was gone. 

"Okay, what happened?" Max deadpanned, plopping into his usual seat in her office. 

Uhura just shrugged and poked at her salad, her appetite poor now that she had no one to cook for or share meals with every weekend. 

"Come on, don't give me that," Max coaxed. "Is this about your, uh, friend?" 

"Duncan," Uhura nodded. "Yeah, it's about him." 

"What happened?" Max asked in concern.

"Nothing happened," Uhura said, shaking her head. "It's just… He just left all of a sudden." 

"He might have some stuff to attend to," Max shrugged. "Maybe a family emergency?"

"Yeah, maybe," she conceded, worrying at her lip. 

"Why don't you call him?" Max asked in confusion. 

Uhura smirked at that, recalling the conversation she'd had with Duncan about his lack of a phone.

"Why don't you have a phone like everyone else?" Uhura had groaned. 

"The world worked just fine before them," Duncan had smiled. 

"You could get one of those Light phones," Uhura had coaxed. "Just the bare essentials of a phone but you could still talk to me when I'm not here."

"Why would I do that?" Duncan had asked in genuine incredulity. "If I have something to say to you, I'll come over and say it." 

Duncan. So stubborn. 

"Yeah," Uhura drawled, smirking at Max. "He doesn't have a phone. Doesn't want one, doesn't feel like he needs one."

"I'm sure something, some kind of emergency came up," Max shrugged. "And when he gets back he'll tell you about it."

So Uhura went to work and went home like clockwork, never giving herself a moment to be alone with her thoughts. A mean feat given that she couldn't even throw herself into her work, the clinic being as dead as it was. Max was her rock through it all and he helped her stay grounded even as her seemingly bottomless well of patience was starting to run dry and give way to abject panic. 

_ When he gets back he'll tell you all about it. _

God. She missed Duncan so much it  _ ached _ . She missed how they talked for hours about nothing and everything. She missed the way she could tell him anything and never be met with judgment. She missed how he would seek her out just to read together. She missed his quiet but intimidating aura, his protective stance whenever they went on their walks. She missed the way he made her mind go blank and blessedly quiet. 

_ Please come back to me _ . 

She didn't have to wait long for Duncan to come back. He reappeared on her doorstep, two weeks later and Uhura was so relieved she almost cried. 

Until Duncan fell forward into her arms, blood soaking into her t-shirt as Duncan wheezed wetly. 

The smell of copper hung heavy in her nose, mingling the tang of sweat and Duncan's cologne. 

" _ Help...me _ …"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I think I'm getting pretty good at this slow-burn thing hehe


	8. Chapter 8

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> TW CW// Blood, Violence, Medical Procedures

He should've known better. 

He should've known better than to take a job, in fact,  _ look _ for a job when he was... emotional. A surreal and unfamiliar state to be in. 

The job was as cut and dry as they come. Some cartel leader wanted some other cartel leader dead, Narcos style. Those kinds of jobs were usually easy with the cartel guys being guarded by some poor assholes that just wanted to feed their families. It was a completely different matter when it came to the sicarios, however. Nothing Duncan couldn't take care of. 

Duncan as always struck when they least expected it, in the dead of night. He didn't bother with a disguise as the last time in Belarus, no. He simply went there in his usual black get-up and dispatched the guards, quickly and dispassionately. His silencer zipped with each kill, moving quickly through shadow and blind spots until he got into the hacienda. 

The first clue should have been the lack of guards in the hallway but Duncan was high on adrenaline and bloodlust, intent on getting to the patrón and doing the job. The thrill of the chase. 

When he got to the boss's bedroom, he expected the usual drugs and naked girls but all he found was the boss, Louís Arciniega, smirking at him from his bed. 

_ Fuck _ . 

"I should be flattered," he smirked, his grills glinting in the light from the chandelier. "Flattered that they sent the Black Kaiser to kill me instead of some no-name sicario."

Duncan didn't say anything, keeping his gun trained on Louís, expression blank.

"You got played, ese," Louís shrugged. "Your little friend, Jazmin? She sold you out." 

_ Oh for fuck's sake.  _

Suddenly six sicarios were covering Duncan's back, leaving him with no escape. He couldn't move backwards and if he killed Louís and tried to jump out the window in front of him, they'd just shoot him. He had to play the long game. He knew that. Just like he did with Blut.

He lowered his gun and almost immediately two sicarios were tying his hands behind his back, kicking the backs of his knees until they gave out.

"She said she'd pay us a million to kill your ass," Louís smirked. "Slowly, she said. Shit. What did you do to her, tío?" 

Duncan just glared at him. 

"Oh, I see," Louís smirked, nodding. "She wanted your old ass but you didn't feel the same way. Tragic."

Duncan didn't struggle, he simply stared ahead, already plotting his revenge. 

"I know Jazmin, you know," Louìs said. "You don't say no to a girl with an arsenal and contacts. Oh well." 

He turned to the sicarios and nodded once and just like that, Duncan was being dragged away.

He didn't know how many days passed. They all blurred together indiscriminately. All that Duncan knew was that they would beat him bloody but never too close to death and then toss him some tepid water and stale tortillas. 

Rinse and repeat. 

They kept him naked out of fear that he'd use his clothes as weapons or something and had his wrists chained to the wall by a long chain that chafed and had Duncan's wrists bleeding within the week. His anger kept him warm at night. 

All affection for Jazmin disappeared.

After what may have been two weeks of waiting and listening for the right opposite, some poor kid, one of the guards made the mistake of giving him a fork with his tortilla and eggs. 

The guy was just a kid, a new father that wanted to provide for his newborn daughter. He didn't know Duncan from Adam and he probably didn't know that a fork was just as deadly as a Kalashnikov in Duncan's hands. Duncan would spare the boy, if only for his witlessness and the fact that he was relatively kind to Duncan when the other guards weren't watching. 

The guards taunted him whenever they could. Calling him a bitch and whore that couldn't even defend himself. Calling him a trumped-up phoney who didn't deserve his moniker of the Black Kaiser. They threatened to take turns with him just to show him how much of a pussy ass bitch he was. He noted the faces of those guards in particular. 

That night, darkness came quickly and once it was completely dark in his cell, Duncan took the fork he had hidden and deftly picked the locks of his shackles, shaking his wrists once he was free. 

Time to play.

The guards were a little further down the hall so Duncan enjoyed their surprise, fear and confusion when they saw him standing outside his cell, naked, bloody, and wielding the same fork. 

He ran forward quickly, plunging the mangled fork into the eye of the first guard, vitreous humour trickling down the man's face as he screamed in pain and terror. Duncan took the man's head in his hand and twisted sharply until the man's neck cracked loudly and he fell like a puppet with its strings cut. Duncan had his AK-47 in his hands before he even hit the ground.

The second man had frozen in panic and fired blindly at Duncan. The bullet grazed Duncan's side, making him groan but it didn't stop him from shooting the miserable asshole through the head, his brain splattering the wall behind him in gruesome chunks. More guards flooded the hallway and Duncan killed them all in a rain of gunfire.

Duncan knew that on his side of the property where the cell was, there were no more guards, the rest guarding Louìs. Duncan blew out the fuse box, plunging the whole estate into darkness. Just how Duncan liked it. 

He killed everyone he came across, slashing and shooting and tearing as he pushed forward to get to Louìs. He was covered in blood, some of it his own but most of it belonging to the morons that thought he could be contained. 

He felt the broken metal tips of knives shift in his body as he moved quickly, kicking open the door of the bedroom where Louìs was trembling, a pistol in his trembling hands. 

"It wasn't personal," Louìs muttered resentfully. "It's all Jazmin, not me." 

Duncan simply stared at him.

"Say something!" Louìs sobbed. "Look, how much-" 

But he didn't finish, Duncan already riddling him with bullets, and blood spurting from each wound as his body twitched from the impact. 

Duncan patted the body down until he found a phone. He dialled a familiar number. 

"Is it done?" Jazmin's said, her voice shaky and quiet. "Hello? Did you kill him?"

Duncan was quiet for a moment, digesting the reality of betrayal when Jazmin said something else.

"Duncan?" She asked, voice small and afraid. 

He hung up. Thirty seconds. No more, no less.

The kid who gave him the fork earlier was outside trembling and Duncan nodded at him before walking past him, hot-wiring a car and speeding off. 

He grabbed his go bag from his safe house but he didn't waste a single second, tending to his wounds one-handed as be drove manically to Seattle. 

He found Jazmin, still in her fortress of weapons, wearing a bulletproof vest and clutching a pistol. She had fired wildly when she heard him come in, two of the bullets hitting him in the chest, burrowing into his side and out. 

"I'm sorry, Duncan," Jazmin sobbed, tears streaming down her brown skin. "I- I was angry and I wasn't thinking straight-"

Duncan fired once. A single kill shot right in her forehead. Duncan didn't enjoy killing her. In fact, he counted it a damn shame. But he couldn't have her throwing another tantrum just because he wouldn't fuck her and almost getting him killed. 

He took as many of her guns as he could before throwing them into his truck, speeding off to Trip Oak, his body sore and bleeding as he drove.

_ I just need to get home. I just need to get to her. _

  
  


***

He fell into her arms, trying to hold himself up so that he wouldn't knock her down, wheezing for help. 

"Jesus Christ, Duncan!" She breathed in horror, bracing an arm around his torso and leading him to her large couch, laying her down. "What happened to you?!"

It seemed like whatever adrenaline had been coursing through his veins was wearing off, his eyes rolling back into his head. 

"No, no, you need to stay awake," Uhura said firmly, slapping him lightly. "Where are you hurt?" 

"Two gunshot wounds left lung," Duncan wheezed, coughing up blood. 

"Are they still in you?" Uhura asked, tearing off Duncan's shirt and applying pressure to the wound and dabbing away the blood with the dishcloth she had in her hand when she opened the door. Duncan shook his head. "Good. You're still bleeding though. Hold on."

Duncan heard her run off before coming back and placing something thin over his wounds. Cling film.

"I have to assume that the wounds have penetrated your lung since you're coughing up blood. That should stop your lung drop collapsing," Uhura said quickly, her voice steady as she turned him into his side. Her talking helped him stay awake and calmed him down once he knew what was happening.

Uhura rushed to the kitchen and grabbed a straw, as well as the box of surgical equipment Duncan had got her, dousing it all in rubbing alcohol as well as her hands and arms. 

Duncan coughed up more blood. 

"I don't understand," Uhura muttering, checking the wound. She pressed her fingers along his chest cavity until she felt something hard and sharp jutting outwards. "The fucking shrapnel." 

Luckily the incision for the chest tube was where the shrapnel was piercing through Duncan's intercostal muscles. With steady hands, she cleaned the area with rubbing alcohol, local anaesthetic and iodine and then she made an inch-long incision, making Duncan grunt slightly. The local anaesthetic could only do so much. The shrapnel was immediately visible and Uhura quickly removed it before clamping the vein that had been nicked. The bleeding stopped and she quickly stitched him up, moving up a rib to insert the chest tube, draining the fluid from around his lungs. 

She stitched up his lungs and Duncan's breathing returned to normal, no longer a wet wheeze but more of a quiet rasp. Not ideal but it would have to do. 

"The goddamn shrapnel," she grumbled to herself. 

She cleaned the rest of Nigel's cuts and abrasions with rubbing alcohol, dressing each of them in some gauze she had on hand. It was a rough job but Duncan seemed to be stabilizing. 

"You're not out of the woods yet," Uhura informed him. "Once you're stable enough, I'm moving you to our ICU for observation." 

"No," Duncan rasped. 

"Duncan, you need a transfusion," Uhura said through gritted teeth. "You could start bleeding internally or have fluid build up in your lungs."

"No," Duncan repeated.

"Let me take care of you," Uhura whispered. 

Duncan closed his eyes and sighed before nodding weakly. Uhura sighed in relief and immediately dialled someone on her phone, her hands still covered in Duncan's blood. 

"Max?" She said. "I need you to get over here and get here fast. You'll understand when you get here."

***

Somehow Max managed not to ask any questions when she asked him to help her move Duncan, who was bloodstained and shirtless to her car. 

Given the lack of a gurney, it was tricky but Max seemed to know exactly how to move Duncan without agitating his wounds.

"I used to be a medic in the Marines," he shrugged. "Not my first rodeo."

They managed to get to the clinic's only observation room without any more blood loss although Duncan did give the occasional groan. 

They had him hooked up to fluids and blood with his vitals being monitored within the hour. Max did her the favour of checking her work on Duncan's wounds and he gave an approving nod. 

"Not bad for someone who wasn't a field nurse," Max nodded. "A lot prettier than what most would do. Do you just stock up on surgical equipment or something?"

"He bought me a real Victorian-era set of surgical equipment," she smiled shakily, staring at Duncan who had passed out the moment they'd left him alone. "The rest was just in my first aid kit."

"Well, that might've saved his life," Max sighed. "Good job, Lieutenant."

It was then that she broke down for the first time after treating a patient, Max bringing her close and hugging her tight. 

"I was so scared!" She sobbed. "I thought I was going to lose him."

"But you didn't lose him," Max said gently. "You can't focus on the what-ifs. You saved his life and that's all that matters. We just have to take care of him now."

Uhura just nodded, still soaking Max's shirt with tears. 

"He means a lot to you, huh?" Max observed, rubbing her back. 

Uhura could only nod. 

_ He means everything to me.  _

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> He's okay! Yay!


	9. Chapter 9

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Back to back updates? I know that's right!

Uhura sat by Duncan's bedside all night, holding his hand in hers, stroking it with her thumb. She was back in that place, back in that place where if she took her eyes off him she would fall apart. 

"Lieutenant," Max said from the doorway. "Go home and get some sleep. I'll keep watch till you get back." 

"No, you go home," Uhura said quietly. "You need some rest too. God knows the nursing staff is more important than me."

"Lieutenant," Max said firmly, smiling slightly. "Go home. It's not up for negotiation." 

She looked back at Duncan, still sleeping peacefully as his body tried to knit itself back together. Uhura tried to trust the biology, trust that unless Duncan spontaneously became a haemophiliac, his body would draw on ATP to fuel the platelets that would put him back together the way he needed to be. 

But patients always existed in this quantum state where her observation of them changed their outcomes for the better. That they were both well and unwell until she looked at them and willed them into health. She looked at her shoes for a second and then as if to spite her, she saw some blood dribbling over Duncan's lips. 

"What the hell?" She whispered, getting up. "His lip is split. Shit." 

"We're gonna need to get rid of that stache," Max hummed. "Well, I'm going to do that. You, my exhausted friend, are going home."

"But-'

"Ah ah! No buts!" Max said, picking her up by the shoulders and leading her out of the room, Uhura's body moving with little resistance due to exhaustion. "Don't come back until you've had at least six hours of sleep." 

And then the door was closed and Uhura was out in the cold. Literally.

So she went home, heated up the dinner she'd abandoned and ate in quiet and tired contemplation. Her attention went to her couch, bloodstained with bloody gauze, her gift from Duncan looking like something out of Silent Hill.

She got rid of the gauze and cleaned her surgical instruments before putting them back in their display case, once again looking like they've never been used. She mopped up the blood Duncan had trailed into the cabin and then when that was done, only the couch was left. 

_ He bled so much... _

Thankfully her couch was leather and she could wipe the stains off but even so, the air still hung heavy with the smell of blood and rubbing alcohol. Sterile but fecund in an abstract sort of way. 

She opened the windows and went to bed. Her head had scarcely hit her pillow when sleep took her to a land that was dark and full of formless shapes, bullets flying through dark smoke. 

***

Uhura woke with a start about seven hours later, exhaustion clinging to her stubbornly. 

_ Duncan. _

And with that thought, she was instantly alert and running into the shower. She washed quickly, scrubbing the blood from under her fingernails with her heart thundering against her ribcage. 

_ I need to get to him. I need to get to him and make sure he's okay.  _

She took a deep breath and let the water cascade over her, scrubbing her skin slowly as she tried to ground herself. Max was her best friend and best nurse. She trusted him to take care of Duncan and do it to the best of his ability. If anything, with Max there, Duncan would be in better shape than she'd left him. 

So she took another deep breath and took her time in the shower, scrubbing away the blood, sweat, and tears. She got dressed at a leisurely pace and then made herself a sandwich, washing it down with a cup of tea.

And then she promptly rushed out of the house. She was technically late for work, that's why. Even if she didn't have any appointments what if there was a walk-in?

She drove a little too fast, earning her a warning glare from Sheriff Holbrook who let her off with a warning and a wink. He had always been a little sweet on her but Uhura had an appointment with his wife in three days and wanted it to be as hassle-free as humanly possible. 

She rushed into the clinic, dropping off her things in her office before heading to check on Duncan. And there he lay, eyes still closed with his hair glinting with gold and silver in the sunlight. And decidedly without his moustache. 

Duncan was a handsome man with his facial hair, lending him an air of old school machismo that was emphasised by his high cheekbones and wide jaw. It activated some cavewoman impulse in Uhura's brain, especially with his considerable chest hair. 

But without his moustache… he was the most beautiful man she'd ever seen. His face seemed practically sculpted from marble, definitely enough to make Da Vinci drool given how his face was just so fucking... perfect. Maybe it was just Uhura's weird taste but he was so striking that you just wanted to keep looking and with plush lips that you just wanted to press a soft kiss too…

Before she knew what she was doing, she was cradling his face in her hand, her thumb brushing his cheekbones. His skin was warm beneath her hand, reassuringly so. No signs of fever and no blue tint that could indicate the recurrence of pneumothorax or any other breathing problems. But beyond that, she just wanted to touch him. Touch him and make sure that the scarred and beautiful man in front of her was real. 

And then he opened his eyes, those golden eyes, and she jerked away like she'd been burnt. 

"Good- good morning," Uhura stammered, smiling shakily. "Or should I say afternoon? How are you feeling, Mr Vizla?"

"Better now that you're here," Duncan smiled, closing his eye and sighing. God, facial hair really hid a person. Now, when Duncan smiled it transformed his whole face. Her heart lurched. 

"Are you flirting with your doctor?" Uhura asked, feigning being scandalised and hiding her shyness by looking at his chart. 

"Of course," Duncan retorted, fixing her with a challenging look. "Who wouldn't when she looks as good as you?"

"Stop," Uhura smiled. "How are you really feeling?" 

"Well enough to leave," Duncan said with a hopeful look. 

"Hm, nice try," she said dryly. "You can only leave when I'm satisfied that you won't keel over and die the moment you leave."

"You want to keep an eye on me," he remarked.

"Of course," she retorted. "I… I happen to care about you, Duncan."

"I happen to care about you as well," he smiled. 

"Which is why," Uhura said, thankful that her dark skin would hide her embarrassment. "Which is why you're not going anywhere."

Duncan sighed long-sufferingly. "I can't stand hospitals." 

"Do you wanna tell me what happened for you to land up in one then?" Uhura asked quietly, sitting down in the chair by his bedside. 

"Did you stay here? With me?" Duncan asked suddenly. "I felt someone holding my hand."

"I did. All night," Uhura nodded with a shy smile. "That's why I'm here so late. I went home to get some sleep."

"You shouldn't have stayed up," Duncan sighed. "Not for me."

"I'd do it all over again," she said stubbornly. "Now stop changing the subject. Who did this to you, Duncan? Why… Where did you go?"

_ Why did you leave me?  _

Duncan simply looked at her, his eye glinting as he mentally turned over his options. 

"And please don't lie to me," she said softly, pleadingly.

Duncan looked up at the ceiling, a single tear rolling down his cheek. He looked... afraid.

"I said I was in the funeral business," Duncan started shakily. "That wasn't entirely true."

"What?" Uhura asked in alarm.

"I was… a hitman," Duncan said softly. He sounded ashamed. "And a damn good one too. They used to call me the Black Kaiser. Some still do." 

"You said you retired," Uhura said dumbly. 

"I did," Duncan huffed. "I used to work for a contractor called Damocles. My pension would have cost them too much so they tried to kill me."

"And?" Uhura asked, almost afraid of the answer. She didn't want to believe him but the scars spoke for themselves. 

"I burned it all, I burned them  _ all _ to the ground," Duncan growled. "And I got my pension." 

"Duncan," Uhura breathed. "So what? You went to...kill someone?"

She whispered the last part, eyes darting to the door to make sure no one heard.

"I, uh," Duncan started, licking his lips and looking uncharacteristically unsure. "After our second scene I panicked. I was unsure about what to do next about...us. So I turned back to what I knew."

"Killing?" Uhura asked in confusion. "You were gone for so long though…"

"I was set up," Duncan sighed. "A supplier of mine felt... spurned so she set up a trap for me. I was held captive the entire time."

"They're the ones that gave you those bruises? Those cuts?" Uhura asked, tearing up.

"Yes," Duncan whispered. 

"So you busted out? Killed them all?" She asked, eyes full of fire. 

"I did," Duncan nodded.

Uhura just nodded.

"They shot you too?" She asked, voice shaking. 

"No the supplier did," Duncan said. "I took care of her too."

"So there's no one coming after you?" Uhura asked.

"No. I'm washed up now," Duncan said wryly.

Uhura simply nodded and stared at her shoes, her leg shaking.

"I know," Duncan said, pursing his lips. "You don't want anything to do with me anymore."

Silence for a moment.

"I didn't say that," Uhura whispered.

Duncan gaped at her in shock.

"These past few weeks have been  _ hell _ , Duncan," Uhura said tearfully. "I couldn't eat, couldn't sleep. I… You and I have begun to blur, Duncan. I don't care about your past, I care about your now, about your future."

"Where does the difference between the past and the future come from?" Duncan asked quietly.

"Mine? Before you and after you," she nodded. 

"I missed you too," Duncan said softly. "In that cell, after they beat me senseless… on the drive back here when I could feel the blood pooling in my lungs, it was you that held me together, Uhura."

"It seems like we're conjoined," she smirked, taking his hand in hers. "I'm curious whether either of us could survive separation."

"I don't want to find out," Duncan smiled, squeezing her hand.

"I'm really angry with you, Duncan," she said thickly, tears trickling down her face. "But I'm so happy to see you. I'm so glad you're okay." 

"I'm sorry," Duncan said softly, sincerity in his eye. 

"I know," she smiled tearfully. "Next time you feel 'unsure', talk to me. Don't go thrill chasing."

"Noted, doctor," he smirked. 

"Or else I'll kill you myself."

"I thought you took an oath to do no harm."

And just like that, they were back to normal. Well, as normal as you can get when you're... entangled with an ex-hitman. Uhura wasn't sure if she was doing the right thing but it was going on just over six months since she'd moved to Triple Oak and she knew that she wanted Duncan. She knew that she would put Duncan first. And that he would do the same for her. 

"Duncan," she asked, eyes downcast. "What… What are we? What am I to you?"

"What do you mean?" He asked in confusion.

"We've said all these things to each other but what do they mean?" Uhura asked, her skin prickling with embarrassment. "Are we friends or-"

"We're a lot more than friends, darling," he said, fixing her with a heated look.

"I- I need you to tell me exactly what we are," she stammered. "Please."

"Okay," Duncan smiled. "You're mine and I'm yours." 

"I'm yours?"

"You're mine."

And that was enough for her. For both of them. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Not me sneaking in Hannibal references into this fic. Hell, it's not even sneaky lmao


	10. Chapter 10

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Spanking therapy

"So now that that's cleared up," Duncan said slyly. "Can I go home?"

"Hmm," Uhura hummed, pretending to think about it. "No."

Duncan sighed and slumped back into his pillows, closing his eyes. Uhura saw that the colour had already returned to his skin and besides the bruises and dark circles around his eyes, Duncan didn't look too bad. 

"You did make it through the night really well," she mused. "I have a proposal."

"I'm on the edge of my seat," Duncan deadpanned, eyes still shut. 

"Why don't you, uh, come stay with me?" Uhura asked haltingly. "That way you get out of the hospital and I can keep an eye on you  _ and  _ keep my blood pressure down."

"I… wouldn't want to impose," Duncan said, brow furrowed. 

"Duncan," Uhura smiled. "This is more for me than you, it wouldn't be a problem. Unless you think that would be… moving too fast."

"No, not at all," Duncan chuckled. "We'd move quicker if I could actually...move."

"Haha, very funny," Uhura smirked, rolling her eyes. "So what do you say?"

"Yes," Duncan smiled. 

"Great," she beamed. "I'll go get your discharge papers."

She turned to leave but stopped in the doorway, leaning forward slightly. She bit her lip, seeming to bite back what she really wanted to say. Duncan didn't push, waiting patiently for her to speak.

"I, uh, would like to take things slow," she finally said. "I just… I don't want to mess this up. I… fuck, I don't know."

"You want to prove that you're going to commit," Duncan said. "That you're not just after the excitement of dating an ex-hitman."

"Yeah, you, uh, hit the nail on the head," she chuckled softly. "Is that what we are? Dating?"

"Would you prefer courtship?" Duncan asked wryly. 

"Would you?" She retorted. 

"Yes," Duncan said, giving her a challenging but teasing look. "I'm quite possessive like that. Till death do we part sounds good to me."

"Don't tease, Duncan," she muttered, suddenly flustered at his brazenness. 

"Why not?" He asked lowly. "You're especially beautiful when you're flustered." 

"Okay!" She said loudly, turning around. "Discharge papers."

"Hurry back," Duncan called his laugh following Uhura down the hall. 

_ Goodness, he's very direct.  _

She didn't know why she was surprised. As long as she'd known him, Duncan had always spoken his mind. He didn't seem to process social cues the same way as other people and even completely disregarded them at times. 

She had once mentioned offhandedly that she liked a knife in Duncan's cabin, a vicious looking hunting knife with a lacquered wooden handle, and Duncan had come back with a set of hunting knives. He'd even offered to teach her how to skin and gut a deer. She'd politely declined. 

Or when she'd been trying to clandestinely adjust her bra which had been digging into her ribs when Duncan had helpfully remarked that a woman as well-endowed as she was was surely a DD instead of a D. Uhura had been gobsmacked but she had simply said that maybe he was right. 

She assumed that he was on the autism spectrum and took his bluntness in stride but in light of new information, there probably wasn't a lot of social interaction when you... killed people. Or maybe it was a mixture of both. Uhura didn't particularly care. 

She didn't care that he used to kill people. Or that he had killed several people before landing up on her doorstep. And that  _ terrified _ her. It terrified her how attached to Duncan she was, how willing she was to forsake  _ everything _ , even morals and common sense, just for him. 

But she didn't feel like herself when he was gone. He reaffirmed her selfhood, her independence. She didn't need him per se… But she wanted him. She daily felt a stabbing of hunger for him and felt nourished by the very sight of him. 

Besides, he was a retired hitman. 

She drove quickly to Duncan's cabin and got him some clothes, chuckling at the fact that literally, everything he owned was black. Oh wait, those pants were dark green. There was also an alarming number of firearms in his closet but that was neither here nor there. 

As she crouched down to find him another pair of boots, she came across a large dark wooden chest. Assuming that Duncan kept his shoes in it, she fumbled with the clasp and once she had it open, she nearly fell back in shock.

The chest was lined with floggers, paddles, dildos, plugs, and all other manners of sex aids and toys for the kinkster on the go. 

Uhura and Jim had been decidedly vanilla and that's how they liked it. Their sex life had been uneventful and completely fulfilling, nary a spank shared between them. She knew Duncan was dominant and she'd enjoyed submitting to him but the contents of the box intimidated and aroused her in equal measure.

She closed the box and rushed back to the clinic. That was a bridge they'd burn when they got to it. 

"Okay, I got you some clothes," Uhura breathed as she entered the room again. "Get dressed, sign the papers, then I can bust you out of here."

And with Duncan moving with more vigour than she expected from a man who'd just been shot, they were driving back to Uhura's cabin, Duncan laying a hand on her thigh. Things really had changed.

By the time they arrived, Uhura was trembling slightly and Duncan looked decidedly smug. 

"Okay," Uhura said, helping Duncan to lie down in her guest bedroom. "This is your room. I hope you like it because you'll be seeing a lot of it."

"Planning on tying me to the bed?" Duncan said, voice slightly strangled with pain as he got comfortable. 

"I will if it means not reopening your stitches," she snorted.

"Funny. I'm usually the one doing the tying up," Duncan deadpanned, eyeing her deviously. 

"Yeah, well," she muttered, looking away with a smile. "You're not going to be doing much of anything for a while." 

"Pity," he smiled. "I'd have liked to show my gratitude properly."

"You're an incorrigible flirt, you know that?" She smiled. 

"You bring it out in me."

"I'm sure I do."

Uhura took the liberty of cooking Duncan lunch, micromanaging every calorie, vitamin and omega fatty acid to ensure a quick recovery and took the extra liberty of eating with him and pretending like she wasn't watching him for any shortness of breath or wincing. 

"While I enjoy our meals together," Duncan said casually. "I'm not a fan of your silent fretting."

"Fretting? Me?" Uhura scoffed. "I'm just eating my food, same as you." 

Duncan raised an eyebrow. 

"Fine, I'm fretting," she sighed. "I'm also trying to get my quality Duncan time in arrears." 

"Cute," Duncan said with a soft smile. 

"What?" She said in confusion. 

"You. You're cute," Duncan elaborated. 

"N-no, I'm not," she chuckled awkwardly, staring at her food. "I'm... ordinary?"

"I disagree," Duncan said firmly. "I think you're very attractive."

"Are you done with that?" She asked, changing the subject and taking their empty plates. "I'm just- I'm just gonna take these…"

After spending an inordinately long time washing two fucking plates, Uhura went back to the guest room, hoping that she would find him asleep. No such luck. He was sitting up, completely lucid, with a look in his eye that spelt trouble.

"Come here," Duncan said, his voice soft but firm as he patted the bed next to him. Uhura could never refuse him anything. 

She crawled onto the bed sitting next to him and he gently laid her down to rest her head on his lap. 

"Why do you think so low of yourself?" Duncan asked softly. 

"I- I don't," Uhura shrugged, looking up at Duncan. "I- I'm a good friend and a good doctor-"

"You know that's not what I meant," Duncan said softly. 

"It's not important," Uhura said, shaking her head minutely. "You almost died, I mean, we should be talking about you-"

"It is important," Duncan pressed. "Because you're important. To me." 

"Duncan," she sighed, getting choked up. "It's just being on the darker side and the curvier side… With Jim, it was like people were always surprised that he was with me. Part of it was like "oh, she's black, wow." But it was mostly like "wow, the nerdy fat chick? Way to go, Jim." 

"Uhura," Duncan sighed. 

"It's true," Uhura laughed bitterly. "Jim and I started dating in the first year of college and I heard his buddies giving him a hard time about it. It wasn't anything I hadn't already heard in high school. I tried to break up with Jim over it but he always thought I was beautiful and he wouldn't let me self-sabotage."

"I'm not going to let you either," Duncan said firmly. 

"I know," she smiled shakily. "You… you  _ see  _ me. Beyond the baggage, you see me."

"I've always seen you," he said, running a finger down her cheek gently. "And I think you're gorgeous. Can you trust that?"

"Yes," she whispered, eyes shining. "I trust you." 

"Good," Duncan said. "Now lie across my lap."

"What? Why?" Uhura asked in confusion.

"For your punishment," Duncan said, raising his eyebrow. "I won't have you talking badly about yourself. Lie across my lap." 

"But you're injured-"

"My hand isn't," Duncan smirked 

Uhura pouted but obeyed, lying across Duncan's lap, and shaking slightly in anticipation.

Duncan lifted up the skirt of her dress, leaving her ass exposed to him. She gasped softly when she felt his hand caress her panty-clad ass, her skin breaking out in goosebumps.

"Your safeword is Oaktree," Duncan said softly. "Understood?"

"Yes, Duncan," she whispered. 

"One more thing," he said lowly. "I want you to call me daddy." 

"Oh-okay, daddy," she stammered suddenly flustered. 

"Good girl," he muttered and he took his hand off her ass, bringing it down on her ass and making her cry out. It sounded worse than it felt but, boy did it sting. It sting but Uhura didn't feel the need to tell him to stop, if anything...she liked it.

"I'm sorry, daddy!" she cried. 

He spanked her again, massaging the sore flesh until she groaned at the pain and the rush of endorphins.

"What are you sorry for?" He growled. 

"I'm sorry f-for talking bad about myself," she cried. 

He delivered three spanks in quick succession making her jerk in his lap and shout. 

"Fuck!" She shouted although it came out as a moan much to her embarrassment. Duncan spanked her again and she hissed, her eyes rolling back. "I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry.",

"Don't curse, little girl," he growled dangerously. 

He spanked her again and she let out a sound that was across from a moan and a sob. Her skin was stinging and she felt like she was floating above her body and most of all her cunt was soaking wet. Duncan's hand cracked against her ass relentlessly, even raining blows down on the backs of her thighs. 

"Your skin looks so beautiful with a red undertone," Duncan said softly like he was talking about a painting and not her ass.

"I'm sorry, daddy," she sobbed. He shushed her quietly, rubbing his hand gently across her ass. She sighed at the gentle touch, jerking at the slight sting. 

"Come here," he said softly, helping her up to sit in his lap, her head resting on his shoulder as she sniffled. "You did so well, Princess. You took your punishment so well."

"I did?" She sniffled, wrapping her arms around his neck. "I did good, daddy?"

"You did so well, baby," he said lowly, his breath tickling her ear and making her shiver against him. "Such a good girl for daddy. My pretty little girl is so good for me." 

"Thank you, daddy," she said, voice small. She sounded far away to her own ears, her mind seeming to shift into the person only Duncan was capable of making her be, the good girl she was only with Duncan. 

He held her for what felt like ages, tracing circles into her back and pressing soft kisses onto her shoulder, all the while muttering praises that felt like a cool and soothing balm. She slowly came back to herself, drained and blinking blearily and became aware of Duncan's erection pressing into her core. He didn't let her attention linger there, instead, he helped her lay down next to him on her stomach. 

"Are you alright, darling?" He asked softly, his eye concerned.

"I'm okay, daddy," she smiled, eyes closed. "I feel good, really good."

"Do you have some aloe lotions or something?" Duncan asked softly. 

"There should be some in the bathrooms," she mumbled into the pillow.

With a small amount of difficulty, Duncan got up to get the lotion, an action that Uhura would have never allowed were she actually coherent. Duncan could tell she was still in subspace and resolved to care for her and let her come up in her own time. He noticed the dark circles around her eyes and that her face no longer looked pinched and worried, feeling a mang of guilt at putting that expression on her face for even a second. 

He rubbed the lotion onto her ass and thighs, making her sigh in pleasure at the cooling relief.

"Thank you, daddy," she sighed. "You're so good to me."

The sound was sinful and Duncan had to hold himself back from ravishing her or at least tasting her no doubt wet pussy. He could see between her legs, he could see the way her panties were damp and stuck to her. He took a deep calming breath and focused on his task, taking his time as he rubbed the lotion onto her reddish bottom, soft and supple under his hand. By the time he was done, she was fast asleep.

Duncan smiled softly before getting up again, trying fervently to go slowly to avoid Uhura's wrath. Once sequestered in the bathroom, he pulled his pants down and took his hard and throbbing cock in hand. He began to stroke quickly, his head falling back with a soft groan as he circled the head of his cock with his hand that was still slick with lotion. 

His mind replayed the way she'd sang beautifully for him as he smacked her ass, her cunt getting wet as her ass got redder. He thought about how soft her ass was, how she jiggled with every smack. He thought of how he could see the impression of her soft pussy lips through her panties and the way she moaned so wantonly,  _ daddy _ . 

With that his cock throbbed and twitched and he grabbed some tissues, spurting load after load into the tissue, wishing once again that he could have cum inside her, or on her, and mark her as  _ his.  _

Feeling more composed and less feral, Duncan got in bed next to Uhura, tucking himself around her body. He placed a kiss to the nape of her neck and breathed her in. 

_ Taking things slow, huh?  _

The beast in Duncan huffed.

  
  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> this chapter was a stubborn one, i'll tell you that


	11. Chapter 11

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)

Uhura woke up feeling tired but happy, her ass sorer than anything she'd ever felt. It felt good.  What felt even better was waking up with Duncan's arm around her, tucked against his side. 

"Good morning," he said with a smirk. "Well, evening actually."

"How long was I out?" She mumbled. 

"About three hours," Duncan said. "You're adorable when you sleep."

She almost objected and deflected the compliment but Duncan's challenging look and her sore ass made her rethink it. 

"Thank you, daddy," she mumbled. 

"You're welcome," Duncan smiled smugly. "Did you know you talk in your sleep?"

"Oh, yeah," she said, smiling regretfully. "Jim used to laugh at me over that. What did I say?" 

"Something along the lines of 'daddy, I don't want to eat my tomatoes'," Duncan smirked.

"I do hate tomatoes," Uhura huffed, shivering in exaggerated disgust. 

"I do need to ask though," Duncan said seriously. "Are you comfortable calling me daddy?" 

"I… I'm more okay with it than I thought I'd be," Uhura confessed, meeting Duncan's eyes. "I like it, it feels right...Like you take care of me and like you're in charge."

"You wouldn't prefer to call me anything else?" He asked. 

"I'm definitely not calling you master or sir," she snorted, rubbing circles into Duncan's chest with her index finger. "I want you to own me but not like that."

"Hilarious," Duncan deadpanned. "So you want me to own you? Is that right? Be your daddy and you, my good little girl?" 

"Yeah," she said, voice small. "I like not having to think about anything beyond being good for you. I like how you get me outta my head." 

"And the spanking?" Duncan asked, sounding hungry, his eye glinting. 

"It hurt," she said honestly, biting her lip. "But I liked it. A lot. Is that weird?" 

"Not any weirder than me enjoying spanking you," Duncan smirked. 

"I wanted to ask you something," she said hesitantly. "When I went to get you your clothes-"

"You found my toy chest," Duncan smirked. "I know."

"How the hell would you know?" She asked incredulously.

"You came back wide-eyed like you'd seen a ghost," he shrugged. "It was either the guns or toys. Or both."

"The guns were definitely eyebrow-raising," she huffed. "But you have a pretty expansive toy collection."

"What are you asking me, lover?" He asked in amusement.

_ Lover… How is he so swoon-worthy?  _

"Would- Would you use all of them on me?" She asked. 

"That depends on what you'd be willing to try," he shrugged. "I like giving you what you want, what you need. I have no interest in making you do anything."

"What's on the menu?" She asked, attempting some levity. 

"Pain play, which you seem to enjoy," he smirked and she hid her face in his side. "Don't be embarrassed. One always arrives at pleasure by way of pain. Pain play would be spanking, flogging, paddling… Nipple clamps, wax play, whipping-"

"Okay, that's a lot," she laughed breathlessly. "Whipping sounds a little intense. Wax play too…"

"That's fine," Duncan shrugged. "Everything else sounded good?"

"Yeah," she breathed. "What else would you, um, do to me?" 

"I'd very much like to see you tied up and spread open for me," Duncan said lowly. "Your body was made for shibari."

"I'd like that," she breathed, pussy leaking slick. "If you tied me up, if I was helpless."

"Is that so, gorgeous?" Duncan said seductively, his voice like velvet. "What if I gagged you, hm? Made it so that you all you could do was take what I give you?"

"I'd really like that, daddy," she whispered, unwittingly throwing her leg over his. 

"I could humiliate you. Call you my little slut, my little whore," he whispered right into her ear, making her shiver. "Make you beg for me to hurt you, make you beg for my cock." 

"I'll be your whore, daddy," she mewled, humping him slightly. "I'll be anything you want."

"I didn't know I had such a kinky little girl on my hands," he chuckled darkly. "I bet you'd like it if I stuffed you full of cum, wouldn't you? If I came on your face, on your tits. Made you walk around with my cum plugged up in your pussy." 

"Fuck, fuck, that's so hot," she gasped. Duncan hoisted her onto his lap, making her straddle him and roll her clothed cunt against his erection. "I'd take your cum, daddy. I'd take it anywhere." 

"I'd choke you while I fucked you," he growled. "Lick you and bite you and leave marks everywhere. I wouldn't hold back, darling. I'd take you till you felt me the next day, I'd take you outside in the woods and make you scream for me."

"Daddy, daddy," she whimpered, her mind already falling back to that place where all she wanted to do was please him. His hands were on her ass, reigniting the sting as he helped her roll her hips. "Please- please give me more." 

Duncan couldn't think straight through the haze of lust, having wanted Uhura since she'd appeared at his doorstep with a pie. Even so, he had the wherewithal not to penetrate her, not to sink into her inviting wet heat. Instead, he pulled her panties to the side and took his cock out, slipping it between her pillowy pussy lips. 

"Oh,  _ fuck, daddy, _ " she moaned and the head of his cock started bumping against her clit, his shaft throbbing as he felt her leak on him. "You're s-so big." 

"Yeah? Cum on my big cock," he breathed, spanking her ass again. "Cum for daddy, little girl."

His cock rubbed her clit, once, twice, and three times, smearing it in precum when she suddenly froze and moaned loudly. He felt her entranced spasm on his shaft and almost sobbing, she came, coating his cock in slick. 

"Daddy, I'm cumming!" she mewled, eyes rolling back. 

"That's it, princess," he grunted approvingly, his own climax approaching. "Come on, be a good girl and make daddy cum."

She kept rolling her hips against his, her slick cunt making the slide easy. Duncan gripped her hips, squeezing her ample thighs and hips as she ground against him wantonly. She was so soft down there, her pussy lips hugging his shaft deliciously, and so  _ warm _ . Duncan could only imagine how she felt inside. 

Uhura suddenly tensed again and groaned, soaking his cock with more slick, her pussy unbearably wet and with the thought of Uhura's pussy around his cock, fucking her until she wasn't just leaking but squirting, he held her down on his cock and with the head of his dick against her clit, he came with a low grunt. He spurted thick torrents of cum between her pussy lips, making her moan and shiver, her eyes closing as she savoured being marked so intimately.

"It- it's so much," she shivered. "So much cum, daddy." 

He spent himself right there between her pussy lips, removing his cock to shoot the last of his seed on her mound of Venus. 

"Sit back," he breathed. "Let me see."

She obeyed and sat back some, spreading her legs so Duncan could see her cunt completely covered in his cum, her clit peeking out through a blanket of white. 

"Isn't that a sight?" He breathed with a smirk. "You like how that feels, princess?"

"I like it, daddy," she breathed demurely. 

"You like feeling like a dirty little slut?" He breathed, rubbing her cum covered clit with his finger. 

"Ooooh," she moaned at his touch. "D-daddy, I don't know if I can- can cum again."

"You can," Duncan said darkly. "And you will."

Her breathing began to speed up, coming in high keening pants and then with a stuttering moan she came again, and Duncan watched her entrance flutter, pearls of his cum mixing with her slick.

He managed to wring two more orgasms from her before she fell forward, panting in exhaustion. Duncan hugged her and ran his hands gently along her thighs, grounding her as she came down.

"Fuck," she eventually groaned. "That was not slow at all. And with a patient in post-operative care!"

"That was a test drive," Duncan chuckled. "It's slower than molasses from here."

"I was trying to prove that I was serious about you," Uhura whined, still his little girl. "That I was serious about  _ us. _ "

"I know you are," Duncan said softly, cradling her face with his hand. "But if it makes you feel better, we can slow things back down."

"I don't want to," Uhura pouted. 

"Uhura," Duncan said warningly and she averted her eyes with a pout. Such a naturally subby girl. "I'm going to set the pace. The rules are no touching yourself. If your special place feels tingly, come to daddy and he'll make it feel better. Only hands from now on. Daddy won't fuck you, he won't make you rub your cunny on his cock. Okay?" 

  
  


"Yes, daddy," she nodded demurely. "Can- can daddy still cum on my pussy?" 

Duncan's cock twitched valiantly. 

"Daddy will give you a load in the morning and the evening. How's that?" He asked hoarsely. Uhura nodded with a small smile before her eyes turned mischievous.

"Will daddy, um, promise to stay in bed and let me get him whatever he needs?" She asked hopefully. 

"Nice try," he smirked. "I'll listen to my doctor just this once. Since she's so cute."

"Yay!" She gushed, clapping her hands. She righted her panties and clambered off Duncan carefully. "I'm going to get a start on dinner." 

"Aren't you going to wash up?" Duncan asked.

Uhura raised an eyebrow at him. "No." 

She turned back for a second and moved to lean down over him, planting a swift kiss on his lips, sighing sweetly as he nipped at her full lips.

And with that she flounced out of the room, his cum still on her cunt. He groaned and let his head thunk against the headboard.

_ Slow. Slow as molasses. _

  
  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I was going to drag this out for like two more chapters until I realised this thing is already 10 chapters long. If not now, when, am I right?

**Author's Note:**

> My Mads Mikkelsen obsession is getting out of hand. My apologies to Hanne Jacobsen lmao
> 
> The title of the fic comes from the song, Into The Sun by Swedish post-punk band, Viagra Boys. I highly recommend.


End file.
